For a long time, soups were not considered a particularly high-quality meal, a poor man's food and a waste of leftovers. And admittedly, what we used to be served as soup was not always a treat for the palate. Many of us have bad childhood memories of soup, perhaps because it was something we were given when we were ill.

Quite rightly so, by the way! But more on the subject of soups when you're sick below.

In the meantime, soup has been rehabilitated, we have our own soup restaurants, we've found creative inspiration in faraway countries and soups are no longer colorless and boring, but creative, colorful and full of flavor.

There's a Russian proverb that says:

"Let me look into your soup pot and I'll tell you who you are!"

That sounds promising, I've never thought of it like that before, but as with most proverbs, there's definitely something to it!

In this article, I'd like to give you a few good reasons why you should eat soup regularly if you want to do something good for your health.

1. soups are rich in nutrients

The long and slow cooking process also releases nutrients, e.g. from meat or bones that have also been cooked.

In addition, the vitamins and minerals in the vegetables actually remain in the soup because, unlike vegetables cooked in water, you don't pour away the cooking water afterwards.

2. good for your digestion - good for losing weight

Cooked and pureed food is easier to digest than raw food. In addition, soup also has a warming effect due to the longer cooking time, and if our digestive fire is kept nice and warm (to put it figuratively), then it also works better.

Of course, it is important that you also chew soup. If there are chunks in it, no problem. If it's liquid, then spoon it slowly and keep it in your mouth for a short time so that the food mixes with your saliva. This is because saliva already contains the first digestive enzymes that help you to actually absorb the nutrients.

3. soups are easy to prepare and take with you

Eating healthily is sometimes also a matter of planning. Especially when you're on the go, it can be difficult to eat healthily. A thermos flask with a healthy soup comes in very handy.

You can also save time and money by cooking larger quantities and freezing some of them.

4. healthy soups help to increase the proportion of vegetables in your diet

Time and again we hear from new customers that they hardly eat any vegetables. Or that their children don't like vegetables.

Soups help you and your family to eat more vegetables almost "on the side", and the vegetable taste is also less noticeable in a creamy soup. Soups are therefore a good way of increase the tolerance level of vegetables, especially for sensitive eaters.

Why are vegetables so important? They contain important nutrients for you, but also important nutrients for our roommates, the intestinal bacteria. In addition, vegetables contain high-quality water, fill us up with fiber and promote digestion.

5. healthy soups help to reduce stress

Firstly, you can usually leave your soup on the stove for half an hour longer without any problems. Once all the ingredients are in, you can get on with other things and don't need to stand at the stove. The Instant Pot (slow cooker and pressure cooker in one) or the Thermomix are almost even better. You really don't need to supervise anything at all and have time to do other things.

A little side note: Yes, I know there are people who say that if you have a Thermomix, you can't cook. But I can. The Thermomix is simply a wonderful tool and encourages you to cook things that you might not otherwise cook. If you also own a Thermomix and are enthusiastic about it, please write a comment under this article, I'm happy if I'm not alone in this...

And secondly: soups also help to reduce stress when eating, on the one hand through anti-inflammatory ingredients such as green vegetables, and on the other hand a warm soup is usually spooned slowly and not gulped down.

6. healthy soups detoxify and help you lose weight

The fact that soups do not place such a strain on the digestive system (see point 2 above) means that they can help the body to remove toxins from the body more quickly. Pure vegetable soups and soups without dairy products are particularly suitable for detoxing. Soups are a good way to get more green leafy vegetables into your diet, which have a good detoxifying effect due to the chlorophyll.

However, I recommend that you chop the green leafy vegetables and only add them at the end, and just let them fall together without boiling the soup again. You can find recipes for soups here on the blog, such as detox soupor homemade chicken broth.

Soups have a slimming effect because they are eaten slowly (a hot soup is simply not devoured as quickly, especially if you spoon it up), as this makes you feel fuller and quicker. You also get a lot of valuable fiber, which is also important for losing weight. Soups are also usually good sources of alkaline, and it is definitely helpful for losing weight not to have too much acid in your body!

If your goal is to lose weight, I recommend leaving out starchy ingredients such as potatoes, rice, pasta and so on from your soup. However, there should always be a little protein and fat in it, otherwise you won't feel full for long!

7. healthy soups strengthen the immune system

In particular, bone broths made from chicken bones, beef bones or fish bones contain a lot of L-Glutamine. This amino acid helps to alleviate inflammation in the intestinal mucosa.

When the intestinal mucosa is thick, our body's defenses also function better. Read the article on flu on our blog, where you can also find out more about the connection between the immune system and nutrition and soup is also mentioned!

In addition, soups often contain herbs that also strengthen our immune system. So if you're ill, you should go for the tried and tested soup!

I hope I've been able to make soup a little tasty for you! What is your favorite soup? How often do you eat soup? And do you have any suggestions for healthy soups that children particularly like? Write to us in the comments, who knows, maybe you'll help a reader one step further!