Soup: A cure for winter carb cravings

"The best way to calm our bodies and yet nourish them is to choose smart carbs like whole grains, beans, fruits, and vegetables."  

This time of year when winter wears long and sunshine is absent we often find ourselves in want of comfort food; something that feeds the soul and comforts the body. While we tend to blame cravings on a lack of willpower the truth is that cravings are a symptom of biochemical activity in the body. "Food cravings arise to satisfy emotional needs and reduce anxiety," says researcher Adam Drewnowski, PhD. "Carbohydrates boost our levels of the hormone serotonin, which has a calming, comforting effect." This time of year levels of serotonin are naturally lower due lack of light and a less active lifestyle.

Lemony Chicken Soup - Cooking with Kaye page 69

Carbohydrates are necessary for the production of serotonin, the feel-good brain chemical. Where we get into trouble answering food cravings is selecting simple carbohydrates found in snack foods and sweets rather than complex carbohydrates found in fruits, vegetables, and legumes. 

WebMD Weight Loss columnist, Elaine Magee, MPH, RD, says "We know that when we feed our stressed-out bodies carbohydrates, it helps calm them down. So the best way to calm our bodies and yet nourish them is to choose "smart carbs" like whole grains, beans, fruits, and vegetables. These foods give your body the carbs it craves along with lasting nutritional power from fiber, phytochemicals, vitamins, and minerals."

For weight loss surgery patients there is no better food than soup to feed our stressed-out bodies smartly selected nourishing carbohydrates. It is not very often that I hear from someone who struggles with technical issues when eating soup after weight loss surgery. Soup doesn't get "stuck" going down and if we eat too much the discomfort is short-lived (compared to eating too much solid protein that is poorly chewed and eaten quickly.) In fact, when post-WLS patients discover soup it often becomes their go-to comfort food served without guilt or post-meal remorse.

When animal protein is cooked with vegetables, legumes, and grains into a soup it is moist and succulent making it easy to chew, swallow, and digest. Cooked vegetables are more readily tolerated by many WLSers compared to raw vegetables. And grains like pearl barley or quinoa are portion controlled and digestible when included as an ingredient in soup.

 

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Cooking with Kaye:  Methods to Meals 

Protein First Recipes You Will Love

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