I saw the recipe again a while ago. This time, however, it was called “fat-burning soup” and advertised with promises like “lose 4 kg in a week.” That certainly sounds tempting. Who wouldn’t want to eat a big bowl of soup and practically watch the pounds melt away?
Our bodies don’t work quite that simply, though. No single soup automatically burns body fat, and no one can seriously promise that you’ll lose exactly four kilograms in seven days. How much your weight changes depends on factors such as your overall diet, energy expenditure, exercise, starting weight, and changes in your water balance.
Nevertheless, I tried the soup – and since then I’ve actually been cooking it regularly.
Not because of some miracle promise, but because it can do something much more practical: it contains lots of vegetables, can be prepared in advance, makes a surprisingly large portion, and is an uncomplicated way to put a light meal on the table.
And above all, it tastes really good if you season it properly.
Why this soup has become so popular in diets
The principle behind it is actually quite simple. Vegetables like cabbage, tomatoes, carrots, celery, and green beans provide a lot of volume and water. At the same time, vegetables contain fiber and various micronutrients.
A large bowl of it can therefore be pleasantly filling without necessarily requiring a particularly energy-rich meal.
In my opinion, that is precisely where the real advantage lies.
For example, if I eat a large portion of this soup at lunchtime, I don’t feel like I’ve just had a tiny “diet meal” afterwards. The plate is full, you can eat slowly, and afterwards there’s actually something in your stomach.
I find this much more pleasant than any extreme diets where you spend all day hungry waiting for the next meal.
My version of vegetable soup
The original recipes are often very simple: cabbage, celery, onions, and water – that’s it.
Of course you can eat that.
However, I believe that healthy or lighter food doesn’t have to taste boring. That’s why I also add garlic, herbs, paprika, and a little curry. If desired, you can also add vegetable broth.
This gives the soup significantly more flavor.
Ingredients for a large pot
1 small white cabbage, about 700–900 g;
2 medium carrots;
1 large onion;
2–3 celery stalks;
150–200 g green beans;
2–3 ripe tomatoes or 1 can chopped tomatoes; 2 garlic
cloves ; 1 red bell pepper; 1 small bunch of parsley; 1 tsp curry powder; 1 tsp paprika powder; a little black pepper ; salt to taste; approx. 1.5–2 liters water or vegetable stock; optional: 1 tbsp olive oil; optional: a little lemon juice
