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Diabetes Dialogue, Winter 2013
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Soup's On | Sweet Potato-Orange-Ginger Soup | Take Stock | 5 Lower-Sodium Soups
Few foods are more comforting than a bowl of soup, especially when the snow is flying outside.
For people living with diabetes, soup can also be a smart choice, helping to control appetite. Studies have shown that eating a first course of low-calorie soup before an entrée can reduce the overall intake of calories (soup plus entrée) by 20 per cent.
“It’s a great strategy because we know that maintaining a healthy weight is an important part of diabetes management,” says Sandi Williams, registered dietitian and certified diabetes educator with St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto. “Studies suggest that if you start with a high-volume, low-cal food like soup, you’ll end up eating less by the end of the meal.”
Eating a low-calorie soup before a meal works as a weight-management strategy because it takes 20 minutes for your brain to get the message from your stomach that it has had enough. Starting with a bowl of soup, explains Williams, fills your stomach slightly and makes you feel satisfied sooner and on fewer calories.
Soup is also a great way to introduce fibre into your meal, says Williams. Fibre-rich vegetables and pulses (such as beans and lentils) fill you up and help prevent your blood glucose from spiking. The extra veggies don’t hurt either, she says, as most of us aren’t eating enough of them to begin with.
But when you head down to your local grocery store to stock up in the soup aisle, be prepared for a bout of label-reading, because convenience comes at a nutritional price. According to Williams, many canned and packaged soups come with far more than a pinch of salt—even some of those claiming to be sodium-reduced.
“The recommended daily intake of sodium for a healthy adult is 1500 mg,” says Williams, who advises a sodium budget of between 500 and 600 mg sodium each for lunch and dinner. With some canned soups containing as much as 870 mg sodium per cup, it’s easy to see how you could blow your sodium budget on a bowl of soup, she says.
When you’re shopping, read the nutrition facts labels carefully, paying particular attention to the listed serving sizes so that you can accurately compare different brands.
The best choices, says Williams, are broth- or tomato-based soups, which tend to be lower in fat. To up the ante on nutrition, she likes to toss in some extra vegetables, such as cauliflower, broccoli or green beans (frozen ones are fine if you’re time-crunched). You can also add extra flavour to low-sodium soups by sprinkling in a little salt-free seasoning, such as Mrs. Dash. Check out the health food or organic aisle in your supermarket, as some of those brands could be lower in sodium. Again, read those labels to ensure the best nutritional choice.
Give a wide berth to cream soups, advises Williams, as they tend to be higher in fat and calories. Packaged instant or ramen noodle soups are all stratospherically high in sodium and best avoided (if you must indulge, prepare the noodles with half the seasoning package).
If you shop around and take the time to carefully read labels, the convenience—and comfort—of ready-made soup can be a nourishing part of your meal plan.
Soup's On | Sweet Potato-Orange-Ginger Soup | Take Stock | 5 Lower-Sodium Soups
4 cups (1 L) reduced-sodium chicken broth*
2 cups (500 mL) thinly sliced peeled sweet potato
1 red onion, thinly sliced
2 tbsp (30 mL) ginger marmalade
1 tbsp (15 mL) grated orange zest
½ cup (125 mL) freshly squeezed orange juice
½ tsp (2 mL) freshly ground pepper (or to taste)
½ tsp (2 mL) ground cumin
In a large pot, combine broth, sweet potato, red onion
and marmalade; bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes or until sweet
potato is tender.
Working in batches, transfer soup to food processor
(or use immersion blender in pot) and purée until
smooth. Return soup to pot (if necessary) and place
over low heat. Stir in orange zest, orange juice, pepper
and cumin. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes
to blend flavours.
Makes 6 servings
Nutritional breakdown per serving: 21 g carbohydrate,
0.2 g total fat, 0 g saturated fat, 2 g fibre,
410 mg sodium*, 94 calories,
* To reduce the sodium content even further, use no-salt-added
homemade or canned broth.
Soup's On | Sweet Potato-Orange-Ginger Soup | Take Stock | 5 Lower-Sodium Soups
Ready-made soup might be convenient but for a truly tasty, low-fat, low-sodium option, you can’t beat homemade. Sound daunting? Not at all. Prepping soup from scratch is easy as pie (easier, in fact!) and the best way to start is with homemade stock.
Here’s what to do:
Open the top of an empty 2-litre milk carton, rinse it out and store in your freezer. As you prepare other meals, tuck vegetable trimmings and peelings (such as onions, carrots, celery, etc.) and chicken and/or meat bones into the carton and pop it back in the freezer. Once the carton is full, empty the contents into your largest pot. Pour in enough water to cover the ingredients and add whatever flavourings you like (e.g., fresh or dried herbs, half a lemon, peppercorns, etc.). Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for at least 1 hour—the longer the better. Strain through a fine sieve, then use the stock to make soup. Try our Sweet Potato-Orange-Ginger Soup recipe or, for a truly instant soup, simply add frozen vegetables plus rinsed and drained canned kidney beans or chickpeas,
shrimp or cooked chicken, then simmer until the vegetables are tender.
Soup's On | Sweet Potato-Orange-Ginger Soup | Take Stock | 5 Lower-Sodium Soups
Here’s a round-up of some of the lower-sodium products on store shelves:
Campbell’s No-Salt-Added Chicken Broth
Per ⅔ cup (150 mL): 10 calories, 40 mg sodium, 0 g total fat, 1 g carbohydrate
PC Blue Menu Minestrone
Per cup (250 mL): 160 calories, 140 mg sodium, 2.5 g total fat, 28 g carbohydrate
Amy’s Organic Light-in-Sodium Lentil Vegetable
Per cup (250 mL): 160 calories, 340 mg sodium, 4 g total fat, 24 g carbohydrate
Primo Minestrone
Per cup (250 mL): 120 calories, 350 mg sodium, 0.5 g total fat, 24 g carbohydrate
Campbell’s Condensed 25% Less Sodium Tomato
Per cup (250 mL): 80 calories, 360 mg sodium, 0 g total fat, 19 g carbohydrate