In winter, eating hot soup is comforting, especially in cold weather. If you don’t have the time or means to make it yourself, it is possible to turn to an industrial version, sold in supermarkets. But how to choose it well? Here are the tips from Alexandra Murcier, dietitian-nutritionist.
Making a homemade soup is not very complicated, all you need is a stewpot and a blender, you cook the vegetables in a large volume of water and blend them, before seasoning the preparation.
Advantages: “CThis allows you to control the ingredients you put inside and avoid additives.” underlines Alexandra Murcier, dietitian-nutritionist. “It is also possible to freeze your soups and it keeps well: you can eat it for three or four days after preparation, without problem. adds the specialist.
How to choose the right industrial soup?
If, despite everything, for various reasons, you are unable to prepare your soup yourself, you can turn to industrial preparations. But once in the supermarket, faced with the multitude of products, how do you choose well? “When choosing an industrial soup, you must read the list of ingredients“advises the expert first.”Choose the shortest list possible, this ensures that the product contains the fewest possible additives”.
Another recommendation from Alexandra Murcier: try to avoid food additives that are not found in your cupboards. “Additives starting with an E followed by a number, emulsifiers, soy lecithin… These are all harmful additives, which also have a ‘cocktail effect’ on our health” she denounces.
Be careful of salt, sugar and glutamate!
The other important point when choosing your soup is to read the quantities carefully. “In tomato soup, for example, the amount of sugar can be high. This is an important point to check, in the table of energy values” specifies the dietitian.
The same goes for salt, it is important to choose the least salty soups, in order to limit your sodium intake, which is bad for our blood pressure. “Many soups also contain glutamate, an additive that is not recommended for health and should preferably be avoided” further details the expert.
Likewise, pay attention to fat intake. Some soups, rich in cream, are fatty.
What vegetables should be preferred in industrial soups?
In this type of ready-made soup, you should not necessarily favor seasonal vegetables. “As they are prepared in advance, this is not necessarily a criterion to be favored” explains the expert. She points out that the more variety you have in your diet, the better, but that as soups have been cooked and prepared for a long time, it is not thanks to them that you can cover your nutrient needs.
It is therefore important to ensure an intake of fresh fruits and vegetables in your diet as well. Alternatively, Alexandra Murcier recalls that there are “soups packaged in glass bottles, fresh and cooked with organic vegetables”. In all cases, it is important to consume it with animal or vegetable proteins, bread and fruit for dessert, because soup alone represents too light and incomplete a meal.
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