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A steaming bowl of delicious soup isn’t just for the cold winter days. You could experience impressive results on the scale if you made soup a regular part of your diet!

Unlike most liquids, soup has a high satiety effect, comparable to solid foods. This is what makes the soup so wonderfully filling and satisfying. A Purdue University study found that individuals who ate soup consumed fewer calories overall. Researchers concluded that you could reduce hunger and increase feelings of fullness by having a bowl of soup either before your meal or as your meal.

A Penn State study found that individuals could lower their caloric intake by 20% just by eating a bowl of low-calorie soup before their meal. Other than the creamy varieties, soup tends to be lower in calories and very healthy.

Making and eating soup can be a time-saver! Sure, multi-ingredient soups can be a little labor intensive, but the wonderful thing is that you do it once and then enjoy the pot of soup the rest of the week. Soup also freezes well, so you can make and enjoy it now, and freeze some for later.

Soup is an excellent source of vitamins and minerals. Tomatoes, onions, peppers, carrots, celery, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, and squash are all delicious soup ingredients. You could easily satisfy your vegetable requirement of 2-3 cups with an aromatic bowl or two of soup each day.

You don’t have to be Julia Child to make an award-winning soup. No special culinary skills are required. If you can chop vegetables, you can make a fabulous pot of soup. There are readily available, healthy recipes. In under an hour, you could serve up a pot of steaming heaven with just some low-fat broth, a few seasonings, and some vegetables.

Another great advantage of eating soup is the fiber it provides. Adults should eat 25-35 grams each day. A flavorful, vegetable-packed bowl of soup will help you reach that goal in record time!

One complaint that manufacturers listened to loud and clearly was the sodium issue that is often associated with soup. Many of them now make low-sodium versions. If you make the soup yourself however, you can control the ingredients and not have to worry about this problem.

So if weight loss is your goal, quit thinking of soup as a winter food and start thinking of it as a daily necessity. Don’t forget that there are wonderful versions of soup served cold, and there are even soups made from fruit! Enjoying soup as an appetizer or as a meal will help you slim down while feeling satisfied.