讀後心得

A 2020 study showed that drinking soup can reduce the risk of obesity by 15%, as soup is typically low in calories and high in water content, which can increase satiety. However, Taiwanese people tend to drink soup after the main course, leading to excessive calorie intake. Experts point out that oily soups, such as 麻油雞湯, may contribute to increased cholesterol and saturated fat, raising the risk of hyperlipidemia. It is recommended to moderate soup intake while enjoying food and to eat more high-fiber vegetables to lower cholesterol.

In 2020, scholars conducted a statistic on seven observational studies (including 45,292 people) and concluded that drinking soup can reduce the risk of obesity by 15%. The main reason is that most soups have low calories and high water content, which can effectively increase satiety and thus reduce overall calorie intake. Therefore, people who regularly drink soup are less likely to gain weight. However, these studies mostly come from Western countries and Japan, where foreign soups are generally not greasy, such as Japan's miso soup and Thailand's Tom Yum soup, which both have lower calories, making it seem that frequent consumption does not lead to weight gain.

In contrast, dining habits in Taiwan differ significantly. Generally speaking, Taiwanese people tend to drink soup after finishing the main dishes, which is different from the Western habit of considering soup as an appetizer. Moreover, many people enjoy drinking warm soup, believing it to be the essence of the food, and they often drink bowl after bowl without caring whether they are already full. This eating behavior can lead to excessive intake of fats and calories; for example, a bowl of sesame oil chicken soup contains about 450 calories, which is equivalent to two bowls of white rice. Therefore, excessive consumption of soup can inevitably lead to weight gain.

The choice of soup is also very important, as one should be aware of the risks of cholesterol and hyperlipidemia. Recently, a Vietnamese woman married to a Taiwanese was found to have severe fatty liver, weighing 83 kilograms, which is quite unusual for someone who grew up in Vietnam, as Vietnam is the country with the lowest average weight in the world, where people are commonly thin. This is mainly because Vietnamese cuisine often relies on boiling, steaming, or grilling, with little use of frying. She believes her weight before pregnancy was only 52 kilograms, but during her postpartum confinement, she consumed sesame oil chicken soup daily, leading to an increase of 30 kilograms, which she has been unable to lose since. Additionally, some pork rib cuts have higher fat content, and using parts with fatty meat to make soup can significantly increase the cholesterol and saturated fatty acids in the soup; merely consuming such soups can lead to elevated cholesterol, becoming a potential risk for hyperlipidemia.

Therefore, while enjoying delicious food, it is recommended to practice moderation, eating more meats and drinking less soup. It is also advised to intake more high-fiber vegetables, as dietary fiber can slow down the breakdown of fats, accelerate intestinal clearance, and reduce the reabsorption of bile acids, thus achieving a cholesterol-lowering effect.