# Is vegetable soup healthy
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-vegetable-soup-healthy/781200
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [March 2, 2017, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-vegetable-soup-healthy/781200 "2017-03-02T14:12:46Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2017, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-vegetable-soup-healthy/781200/1 "2017-03-02T14:12:46Z")
Or does all of the salt in the broth negate the health part.
I’m looking for a healthy and delicious way to get more vegetables and fiber in my diet as I’ve recently been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.
Any recipes for soup or other vegetable dishes appreciated, thanks.
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### Author:  [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2017, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-vegetable-soup-healthy/781200/2 "2017-03-02T14:26:04Z")
Yes, vegetable soup is good for someone with diabetes… provided you replace the salt with other taste-enhancers. Salt, of course, is linked to high blood pressure, which in turn is linked to kidney damage, common in diabetics. If you’re not into making your own soup, Healthy Choice has many low-salt, low-fat options.
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### Author:  [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2017, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-vegetable-soup-healthy/781200/3 "2017-03-02T14:38:10Z")
If you have the time and inclination, making your own stock is pretty easy. That way you have full control everything going into it.
This is my mother’s easy minced vegetable soup. I liked it even as a vegetable-hating kid because there aren’t any big chunks of anything in it (also a good way to hide any vegetable you don’t particularly like but still think you should eat):
Take equal parts celery, squash, zucchini, cucumber, carrots, onion, and/or pretty much any other vegetable(s) you like, mince it all in a food processor (or chop it as small as you can), dump it into a pot or slow cooker with a big can of diced tomatoes and a couple cups or so of chicken or beef stock, then just let it simmer for a couple hours. I like a lot of black pepper in mine but you may season as you see fit. And don’t worry about it becoming a big pot of mush, the acid in the tomatoes keeps everything crisp.
.
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### Author:  [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2017, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-vegetable-soup-healthy/781200/4 "2017-03-02T14:39:27Z")
> [@panache45](#):
>
> Salt, of course, is linked to high blood pressure
Cite? AFAIK, there is absolutely no evidence that links salt with high blood pressure.
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### Author:  [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2017, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-vegetable-soup-healthy/781200/5 "2017-03-02T15:07:15Z")
I wouldn’t think the answer would be simply yes, all vegetable soup is healthy for a type 2 diabetic. I think you need to look at the carbohydrate content of the soup. Tomato or potato-based soups might have too much carbs for your diet.
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### Author:  [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2017, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-vegetable-soup-healthy/781200/6 "2017-03-02T15:16:55Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#):
>
> Cite? AFAIK, there is absolutely no evidence that links salt with high blood pressure.
It’s complex.
> **[No Association Between Salt And Blood Pressure, Study Finds](https://time.com/3313332/salt-and-blood-pressure/)**
>
> Sodium has long been labeled the blood-pressure bogeyman. But are we giving salt a fair shake? A new study published in the American Journal of...
> [@](#):
>
> A new study published in the American Journal of Hypertension analyzed data from 8,670 French adults and found that salt consumption wasn’t associated with systolic blood pressure in either men or women after controlling for factors like age.
>
> Why not? One explanation, the authors write, is that the link we all assume between salt and blood pressure is “overstated” and “more complex than once believed.”
Nevertheless, the article goes on
> [@](#):
>
> It should be noted, however, that even though the study found no statistically significant association between blood pressure and sodium in the diet, those patients who were hypertensive consumed significantly more salt than those without hypertension—suggesting, as other research has, that salt affects people differently.
I’m still trying to wrap my head around that – no statistical association between high blood pressure and salt use, nevertheless hypertensive people consumed significantly more salt. That certainly _sounds_ like a statistical correlation. Maybe they mean that for all people there isn’t a correlation, but if you look at only hypertensive people, there is.
In any event, there seems to be a link between sodium and high blood pressure, but it’s not as simple as was thought. Saying that “there’s no connection” appears as simplistic as saying “Don’t use too much sat or you’ll get high blood pressure”
See also this article.
[https://health.clevelandclinic.org/2015/06/if-you-have-high-blood-pressure-salt-still-matters/](https://health.clevelandclinic.org/2015/06/if-you-have-high-blood-pressure-salt-still-matters/)
> [@](#):
>
> But if you follow health news, you know recent research has questioned this conventional wisdom. Several studies show evidence that if you are otherwise healthy, taking drastic measures to reduce salt in your diet may not reduce your risk of heart disease. Some studies even suggest an extremely low-salt diet can do more harm than good.
>
> Does that mean you should pick up a salt shaker and apply generously? Not so fast. The key phrase above is “otherwise healthy.”
>
> For example, if you have high blood pressure (hypertension), you may not need to cut out salt entirely, but how much sodium you eat may still matter. New research from the Lerner Research Institute is shedding light on this mysterious connection.
>
> …
>
> Stay tuned. Even if salt intake may be less of a risk than we used to think, there’s still plenty of reasons for people with hypertension to pay close attention.
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### Author:  [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2017, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-vegetable-soup-healthy/781200/7 "2017-03-02T15:18:09Z")
> [@White SIFL](#):
>
> Or does all of the salt in the broth negate the health part.
[Probably not.](http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/news/20140402/cdc-salt-guidelines-too-low-for-good-health-study-suggests#1)
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### Author:  [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2017, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-vegetable-soup-healthy/781200/8 "2017-03-02T15:23:51Z")
Interesting article from Scientific American:
> **[It's Time to End the War on Salt](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/its-time-to-end-the-war-on-salt/)**
>
> The zealous drive by politicians to limit our salt intake has little basis in science
It states the caveats about the correlation between salt and hypertension, but this caught my eye:
> [@](#):
>
> Fears over salt first surfaced more than a century ago. In 1904 French doctors reported that six of their subjects who had high blood pressure—a known risk factor for heart disease—were salt fiends.
Again, as the article notes, looking at whole populations, you don’t see the correlation, but looking at a population of hypertensives, you do see correlation (although, I admit, six patients is an awfully small data pool to be drawing conclusions from).
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### Author:  [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2017, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-vegetable-soup-healthy/781200/9 "2017-03-02T15:38:57Z")
whether or not a food or dish is “healthy” depends on a ton of variables.
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### Author:  [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2017, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-vegetable-soup-healthy/781200/10 "2017-03-02T15:44:24Z")
How about salads? I love Caesar salads, and they’re very easy to make from scratch, and you could reduce or leave out the high-salt components (anchovies, parmesean, and Worcestershire sauce), or find some different dressing recipes for low-salt diets. I make a point to eat a salad for a meal multiple times a week, and I haven’t gotten sick of it yet, probably since they’re still a lot of variety within the larger category of salads.
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### Author:  [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2017, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-vegetable-soup-healthy/781200/11 "2017-03-02T15:47:59Z")
If you can incorporate butternut squash into your soup, you get a huge blast of vitamin A and vitamin C. My wife made some recently with chicken stock, carrots, onion and garlic, then used a stick blender to puree the whole thing.
For fiber, it’s hard to beat beans. A tablespoon of raw beans has about 7% of your daily requirement.
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### Author:  [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2017, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-vegetable-soup-healthy/781200/12 "2017-03-02T16:06:11Z")
> [@White SIFL](#):
>
> Or does all of the salt in the broth negate the health part.
That actually depends upon YOU.
Do YOU have a problem with salt? That is something to discuss in real life with your doctor. There are some people for whom too much salt in the diet is a real problem and they should cut back. There are ways to make your own, lower-salt broth that such a person should consider.
There are other people for whom salt is not a problem. Consuming high-sodium soup broth is not a problem for them.
The key question here is which category YOU fall into.
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### Author:  [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2017, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-vegetable-soup-healthy/781200/13 "2017-03-02T16:12:10Z")
It also depends on what you’re swapping out for the soup. If you’re replacing McD burger or sugary yogurt and processed lunch meats on Wonder bread, for a bowl of vegetable soup and a whole grain roll, on balance it would seem a better choice.
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### Author:  [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2017, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-vegetable-soup-healthy/781200/14 "2017-03-02T16:54:50Z")
[quote=“iiandyiiii, post:10, topic:781200”]
How about salads? I love Caesar salads, and they’re very easy to make from scratch, and you could reduce or leave out the high-salt components (anchovies, parmesean, and Worcestershire sauce), or find some different dressing recipes for low-salt diets. I make a point to eat a salad for a meal multiple times a week, and I haven’t gotten sick of it yet, probably since they’re still a lot of variety within the larger category of salads.[/QUOT
Leave out the anchovies, parmesan, Worcestershire sauce? Then it’s not a caesar salad.
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### Author:  [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2017, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-vegetable-soup-healthy/781200/15 "2017-03-02T17:32:13Z")
> [@salinqmind](#):
>
> Leave out the anchovies, parmesan, Worcestershire sauce? Then it’s not a caesar salad.
I said “reduce” too, but I take your point.
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2017, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-vegetable-soup-healthy/781200/16 "2017-03-02T21:43:53Z")
In any event, you don’t want to remove _all_ of the salt from anything, especially not a soup. There’s a world of difference, flavor-wise, between a soup with a moderate amount of salt, and one with no salt at all.
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### Author:  [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2017, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-vegetable-soup-healthy/781200/17 "2017-03-02T22:31:57Z")
> [@Broomstick](#):
>
> There are some people for whom too much salt in the diet is a real problem and they should cut back…There are other people for whom salt is not a problem.
This is the essence of a detailed article I read in a magazine (I’m pretty sure it was _Men’s Health_) about 40 years ago. As I recall, something like a third of the population is susceptible to salt causing dangerously high blood pressure and should be judicious in their use of it. The other two thirds needn’t worry.
I believe this is still recognized to be the case, but many/most health care practitioners don’t want to get into all the details of sorting out who needs to watch their salt and who doesn’t so they just advise everyone to cut down.
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### Author:  [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2017, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-vegetable-soup-healthy/781200/18 "2017-03-02T23:08:58Z")
Here is a very flavorful Minestrone soup recipe packed with vegetables. You can control the amount of salt you add to it, and it is very health **ful**.
1/2 lb. very lean ground beef
glug of olive oil (optional)
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
28 oz salt-free stewed tomatoes
1 can salt-free tomato sauce
1 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning, or to taste
6 cups reduced sodium beef broth
16 - 32 oz white beans, preferably made from your own dried beans but reduced sodium canned is fine, too. Just rinse them first.
1 package mixed vegetables
1/2 cup macaroni (optional)
Brown beef in a large stockpot, at least 8 quarts and preferably 12. Use a bit of olive oil fat is required. Drain fat from beef if there is a lot.
Add onion and garlic cloves; saute briefly over medium heat just till sweated.
Add stewed tomatoes, tomato sauce, beef broth, Italian seasoning and beans. Heat to a gentle simmer and simmer for 30 minutes to melt flavors. Add macaroni and simmer till done, if using.
Add salt to taste.
Add mixed vegetables and simmer just till done. Serve with shredded Parmesan cheese if you like it.
Makes a shitload of servings. I usually freeze at least half this soup. It freezes fine.
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### Author:  [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2017, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-vegetable-soup-healthy/781200/19 "2017-03-02T23:19:14Z")
Here’s a good salad as well:
Tuna and Cannelli Bean Salad
1 6 oz can water packed tuna, drained
1 19 ounce can Cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 small red onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 cup celery, diced
1/2 cup red or green peppers, diced
1 handful chopped parsley
1 handful kalamata olives, pitted and chopped (optional)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
salt and pepper to taste
1-2 handfuls salad greens
Directions:
Mix the tuna, beans, onion, garlic, celery, peppers and parsley in a bowl.
Mix the olive oil, lemon juice, mustard, salt and pepper in another bowl.
Mix the dressing and the tuna and beans.
Serve over salad greens.
Makes 1-2 servings, depending on your appetite.
I’m not diabetic, but I try to eat so I never will be. Good luck!
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### Author:  [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2017, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-vegetable-soup-healthy/781200/20 "2017-03-03T00:22:12Z")
The following does a good job at explaining why labeling food as either healthy or unhealthy is irrational.
[https://www.completehumanperformance.com/clean-eating/](https://www.completehumanperformance.com/clean-eating/)
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-vegetable-soup-healthy/781200.md?page=2)