Eating Soup Can Help You Lose Weight
Most people who have tried to diet will tell you that losing weight is a tough business. The main reason people find it so hard to resist that extra slice of pizza of chocolate cake is because hundreds of thousands of years ago our brains were evolving in a time when food was scarce - our brains evolved to tell us that we needed to eat high calorie food as often as we could. However, the problem now is that we obviously do not live in a world where high calorie food is scarce. In fact, we live in a world where high calorie food is hugely abundant and easily available, and our brains have evolved to tell us to eat as much as possible (because it doesn’t know that the next meal is just around the corner!)
In the late 90’s scientists discovered a hormone that makes us feel hungry. It’s called “ghrelin”.
The hormone is released by the cells in the walls of our stomach, it then travels to the brain in our bloodstream, and upon reaching the brain it is detected, and our brain tells us that we need to eat.
The important thing with this cell though is that it is only released when the walls of our stomach are not stretched… i.e. when our stomachs are empty. If you are full (stomach wall stretched) then the hormone is not released.
Ok, so far so good - a stretched stomach means we won’t feel hungry because it’s full. Makes sense!
Now let’s look at an every day situation. At lunchtimes say you have a drink of water and a sandwich. This will probably keep you from feeling hungry for a couple of hours, but no more.
However, if you blend the water with the food - i.e. make soup - you will feel fuller for longer! Why? You’ve not eaten or drunk any less.
The reason for this strange phenomenon is because of the way that your stomach handles water and food. When you drink water, this is passed through the stomach quite quickly, so it won’t fill you up very long. However, food is held back for longer so it can be digested. But, if you mix the water with the food the whole lot is held back - meaning a stretched stomach for longer, meaning no ghrelin is produced and therefore you feel full for longer!
This is a really good, effective and simple way to help reduce your calorie intack. By eating soup your body is fooled into thinking it has consumed more than it has and therefore you won’t feel hungry.