Eating Soup Can Help You Lose Weight

I have tried to diet and I can tell you that it’s hard work. I simply can’t overcome those cravings… My body just seems to will me into picking up that extra biscuit and eat that pudding that I do not really need. The trouble of course is that our bodies have evolved this way. When we were just evolving into human beings (a couple of million years ago) we didn’t eat regularly – we had to catch our food, and therefore our brains have evolved to tell us to eat as much as possible. In today’s world of cheap and high calorie food though, this is not ideal, with our brains constantly telling us to fill up on the highest calories!

Scientists tell us that a recently discovered hormone is one of the main reasons why people feel hungry. It’s a hormone called “ghrelin” and was only discovered in 1999.

The walls of our stomach release this hormone where it then travels in the blood to the brain, where the brain detects it and tells our body we need to eat.

The interesting thing about ghrelin is that the stomach only releases it when the stomach is empty. It knows when our stomach is empty because the walls of the stomach are not stretched. If they are stretched (i.e. we are full) then the hormone is not released.

Pretty straightward so far isn’t it – a stretched stomach wall means you don’t feel hungry. Not too taxing…

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 is that if you drink the water and eat the food separately the stomach allows the water through quickly, but holds the food back so it can digest it. But, if you blend the water with the food, the whole lot is kept back, therefore keeping your stomach walls stretched further for longer, therefore no ghrelin is released and therefore your brain isn’t telling you to find food!

This is a really simply way of tricking your body into thinking it’s eaten more than it actually has. Try eating soup every lunchtime and you will help stop those afternoon cravings!

For more butternut squash soup recipes and information on losing weight click the link.