SOUPING IS THE NEW JUICING

Fact: You need your veggies, but somehow, it’s still a daily struggle.

Fact: Despite the whirl of your juice machine, it seems like you’re still hungry after drinking that $50 bag of veggies you just brought home from Whole Foods.

Idea: Why not try souping? It’s America’s hottest liquid food trend. Or you could say it another way: Souping is the new juicing. Food Business News is calling it the new “meal du jour.”

Souping is a way to turbo-load nutrients in a way that’s far more satisfying than drinking them because you’re using the whole veggie and getting the fullness of the fiber. It’s also a way to use anti-inflammatory and cancer fighting savory spices in your daily meals. The benefits of souping don’t end there. Soup cleanses toxins, promotes weight loss and a provides a maximum energy boost.

Here are a few reasons to soup it up:

IT’S FOR THOSE ON THE GO. You can make a big pot of soup early in the week and eat it for days. Bored with that flavor? Freeze the rest and make another pot. It’s economical, plus leads to healthy eating habits because soup as a meal is ready and waiting. It’s also easy to take to work or to the gym for a filling snack that you can sip out of your thermos in the car. Can’t leave work to go to lunch? Just pop your homemade soup into the microwave.

IT LEADS TO WEIGHT LOSS. Soup, naturally very low in calories and high in fiber, is a great way to jump-start a healthy eating plan and watch that scale needle drop. Veggie-based soup is also satisfying and won’t make you want to reach for a snack. Why? All that fiber keeps blood sugar stable while providing maximum energy. Win-win.

YOU GET THE WHOLE BENEFIT OF THE VEGETABLES. It’s easy to toss a bag of veggies into your juicer and only come away with two glasses of juice while you throw away the vitamin heavy pulp. When you make soup, you use all parts of the veggie including the soluble fiber. High fiber foods reduce your risk of heart disease, so toss in corn, beans, and lentils into your soup.

YOU DON’T HAVE TO LIVE BY SALADS. For many people, a salad is one of the main ways to eat their daily veggies. Been there, crunched that Souping provides the means to really load up on veggies such as celery, broccoli, mushrooms, carrots, peas, cabbage, zucchini…the list goes on and on. Even if you’re not a huge fan of some of these veggies, they will blend in and you will hardly taste them in a soup.

YOU CAN SPICE IT UP FOR GOOD HEALTH: To mix up the taste, add spices to your soup including cayenne pepper (alleviates cramps, lowers cholesterol), basil (anti-inflammatory and heart healthy), oregano (anti-oxidant), paprika (good for eye health), ginger (gets rid of headaches) and turmeric (major anti-oxidant).

IT HELPS WITH DETOXING. When you do eat the fiber from fruits and veggies, it helps you naturally detox as the fiber binds with toxins leading to elimination.

IT’S COMFORT FOOD. Winter, spring, summer or fall, we could all use a little comfort during the daily grind. There’s nothing as nice as a warm meal that’s hearty for those cooler mornings or after a tough day.

Happy Souping!