How does soup help you lose weight if water digests quicker than food?

[Katherina]

People say soup will make you full because of the water content but I don't understand why since water isn't food and will just make you digest the liquid faster and leave the little bits of solid food eaten from the soup still in your belly, like bits of chicken and noodles--wouldn't it be not enough food? Because mostly you're consuming liquids/broth. Wouldn't it make you hungry again right away?

Also, it is said that drinking liquid while eating screws up the digestive juices in your stomach, so shouldn't that mean that soup isn't good for you?
Water dilutes your naturally occurring digestive enzymes and stomach acids which makes it harder to digest food. So idk why the water in soups and smoothies is not inhibiting the digestion of those nutrients and fiber but for any other food it does when mixed with drinking water. I can understand it more with smoothies because you are already making the foods easier to digest through the process of blending the food but for soups that have whole pieces of vegetables, pasta, etc., I�m still unclear. Any insight?

[Katherina]

Sorry, what I meant to say is that water absorbs really quickly--NOT DIGESTS!

[jfh]

You are on the right track, Katherina. Too much liquid will dilute the nutrients so much that the digestive system's stomach acid will not work to digest. However, cooking soup blends nutrients, especially minerals, with the water or stock. Minerals are a necessary part of digestion, so this is a good thing. Soup is also nutritious, because of the enzymes that are activated.

I haven't heard that soup will make you full. I suppose that it depends upon the ingredients of the soup. Some soups with very few ingredients are still very good for you. Bone broth is wonderful.

I think the soups that don't digest well are those with milk. Milk is alkaline and defeats the stomach acid in the digestion process. My grandmother would make a wonderful salmon stew, which was mostly milk and salmon. It doesn't mean it was good for me though.

Next time you go to a restaurant, notice how everyone orders tea with their meals. Tea has tannin. Tannin inhibits protein digestion.

[Solstice Goat]

Canned soup doesn't count as a natural food.

Soup is made from boiled bones.