Consider two simple scenarios you could be facing at lunchtime: when you have a solid food and water, you could eat those separately or you could premix them into a soup and drink the whole thing together. Which of the two techniques do you think will keep you full longer hence preventing you from snacking often and gaining weight? If you said “The soup!” then it just shows you have read the title of this blog post!
But seriously, BBC News Magazine reports that eating the same food and water combined together as a soup will help keep you full much longer than if you ate them separately. The secret lies in the way food passes from the stomach to the intestines:
After you eat a meal, the pyloric sphincter valve at the bottom of your stomach holds food back so that the digestive juices can get to work. Water, however, passes straight through the sphincter to your intestines, so drinking water does not contribute to “filling you up”.
When you eat the same meal as a soup, the whole mixture remains in the stomach, because the water and food are blended together. The scientists’ scans confirm that the stomach stays fuller for longer, staving off those hunger pangs. [BBC]
Ghrelin and the suppression of hunger:
Ghelin is a hormone released by the stomach walls when the stomach is empty. This hormone triggers a response in the brains hypothalamus region that causes us to “feel hungry” and we start to look for food. But when the stomach walls are stretched as a result of eating food, ghrelin production is stopped and we “feel full”. So one easy way to keep the feeling of fullness for longer periods of time is to eat foods that stay in eh stomach longer.
But as you saw eating food and drinking water separately causes the water to leave the stomach first and the food left behind is not there long enough to keep you satisfied. Soups on the other hand stay in the stomach in their entirety and are only slowly removed causing you to avoid the dreaded 3:00 p.m. snack craving.
What has been your own experience with soups? Have you ever felt full for a longer period of time when you drank soup for lunch? Do comment your thoughts on this study and head on to BBC to read the entore article also.
[Via Lew Rockwell]
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Wow, you really hit the nail on the head. Honesty IS the first step. I never thought about it that way, but when I set to lose that 20 lbs or so that crept up on me, I kept a food and exercise diary. It’s an eye opener. A bag of chips there can easily go ignored but add up. Being honest with one’s self as to how much goes in and how much gets expended is the key. I lost the weight and have kept it off for over 15 years. I dumped the diary ages ago, but staying conscious, or honest , has continued.Anyway thanks for the interesting blog hope you upgrade it more.
I really love soup it makes me fuller without eating too much meat or fat. So i would prefer eating soup is great way to eat when you are on a diet and of course daily exercise..
I’ve been cooking a hearty veggie soup on Sunday nights that I bring into the office for lunch. I choose any vegetables that are in season and/or on sale, cut them in big chunks and cook them without over cooking them, I add little salt, but plenty of garlic and chopped onions, also add plenty of herbs and spices, like rosemary, thyme, peppercorns, and sometimes dried chiles, like cayenne peppers that later remove… I usually cook the veggies lightly so they don’t loose too many vitamins or become mushy, also ’cause the soup will be re-heated… I only cook it for 10 to 15 minutes, the veggies are cooked but still a bit crunchy, since I’ve done this soup to complement my meals, I’ve lost 10 pounds in 2 months, of course I eat healthy foods, but plenty! haven’t cut on carbs, still eat plenty of whole grain breads and grains, but don’t work out too much cardio, only yoga… so I know it’s the soup that keeps my system “light” love your article and hope somebody benefits from my simple veggie soup!