Have A “Soupy” Day

An observation that I have made over my many years of practice as a dietitian is that, many Ghanaians do not like drinking soup. A typical Ghanaian will take waakye and fish with shit) for breakfast, kenkey and fish for lunch and rice with stew for supper. This can go on all week without any soup being drunk.

Soups are nutrient filled foods that are useful for the nourishment of the body.

Benefits of drinking soups. They are:

Add up to your fluid intake - Many people, especially ladies, find it difficult drinking water and easily get dehydrated. One of the ways of augmenting your fluid intake is to drink soups because they are filled with water. I know you may like “thick” soup but it is also beneficial to add soups that are light in consistency. If you drink about 500mls to 1 litre of soup a day, you would have supplied about a fourth of your daily fluid needs.

Are filled with dissolved nutrients - Most soups contain about three or more vegetables- The steaming of vegetables, fish and meat with enough natural spices enables the nutrients to be released from the food items into the soup. These dissolved nutrients are readily available to the human being since they are easily absorbed. So drinking soups is not drinking just water but one with many dissolved nutrients like vitamins and minerals, which offer protection from diseases.

Offer a pleasant flavor and aroma that stimulates appetite - Another great attribute of soups is the pleasant aroma that comes out of it, especially, when it is simmering on fire. Many have stories of feeling noises in their stomachs from the aroma of someone’s soup while they pass by the kitchen window of their neighbor. Even when people have lost appetite, they cannot help but want to drink a hot soup that is laden with good scented natural spices like cloves, “prekese”, ginger, rosemary, basil leaves and the like.

Help reach early satiety - Another great nutritional use of soups is that they help reduce caloric intake by causing early satiety. Dietitians or Nutritionists advice many who want to lose weight to drink low oil soups before eating their main staples like rice and plantain. This is because they make feel full early due to the high fibre and fluid content.  This helps in reducing the quantity of food one eats. It is therefore, good for persons living with diabetes who want to reduce the portions of food they eat.

Help convalescing persons - It is not for nothing that when a person develops fever or is hit with malaria, our mothers prepare chicken broth light soup for us to drink. This is helpful in aiding recovery since they contain fluids, vitamins B1,B2, B3, B9,B6 and B12 that form part of the B complex vitamin and are noted for boosting appetite. So as far your dietitian does not advice against it for any peculiar medical condition, drinking some soups when you are not well or recovering from a disease is helpful.