I use to be one of those people who hated soup! However, recently ive come to like it alot more. There's this deli right next to my job that serves really good soups. Now I know some soup can be pretty high in sodium, but other than that, are they good for you? The main soup I seem to eat from them is the Chicken and broccoli.

definitely! i think that sounds great try to stay away from the cream based soups, loaded with calories, you're eating the broth based soups instead, that's good. i think in homemade soups, (or perhaps they are making it from scratch) they tons of veggies balance out the sodium.

Broth based soups are better to eat than cream based ones. They usually contain a lot of butter and flour in addition to salt.

Better yet- if you love soup that much whip out your crock pot and make enough soup to last for a few days- that's what I do

If you don't have high blood pressure sodium may not be a health problem (and sometimes even if you do - for example I have high blood pressure, but don't have to restrict sodium because my blood levels are alway barely at the too low/normal border).

I do tend to drink a little extra water with high sodium foods (both because they make me thirstier and the extra water prevents water retention).

Soups are as healthy as the ingredients in them. I prefer the taste of homemade soup, but I do eat canned soups too. I like to make "dump" soups on the stove or in the crockpot (using canned incredients to make a soup - for example a can of tomato juice, a can of chicken broth, a can of diced tomatoes, a can of green beans, a bag of frozen mixed vegetables, a can of chicken, and maybe some diced fresh veggies like onions and cabbage).

Even many cream soups can be more filling per calorie than other foods, if you're careful about which brand you buy. Some cream soups are rather light, and some are ridiculously high in fat and calories. I have a 300 to 400 calorie per meal "cap," and if the fat and calories fit my guidelines (I use an exchange plan) I will have cream soups occasionally.

I make an awesome seafood chowder that is actually chicken broth, skim milk, onion, potato, and some type of seafood (crab, clam, cod or other white fish, oyster, shrimp, even smoked salmon and fish...) I even tried tuna once. Cream of tuna soup wasn't bad, but not the best, I never repeated it. Canned salmon is good though especially with a drop of liquid smoke (Not quite as good as using actual smoked fish, but it replicated the flavor pretty well).

The great thing about homemade soups is that they're super cheap (even ones with expensive ingredients often make enough to be very cheap per serving), and there are about a gazillion low-calorie soup recipes online.

I can make a homemade soup nearly as quickly as opening a can. It's a great use for leftovers too.

Soup is okay, I would just drink an extra one or two glasses of water because you don't exactly know what they're using or putting in their soup as far as sodium and other stuff.

On the topic of soups- I found a good "potato" soup by cooking cauliflower and chicken broth together then pureeing sauteed onions and garlic along with cauliflower and broth. Lower in calorie, not to mention great veggie punch! The mock potato soup would go great with some chicken and broccoli in it and a touch of shredded cheese on top. I had this for dinner and added about 1/2 cup corn to it, YUM!

When I make cream soups at home, I use fast free 1/2 and 1/2. Pretty low cal, but it still seems to be "rich" and gives more body to the soiup than skim milk. I do carrot soup that way, and pumpkin and black bean siup.

Barb

I too am a recent soup convert! I only make homemade soup though, for reasons other people have already mentioned (sodium, preservatives, etc).

As someone else said, cauliflower puree soup is DELICIOUS and easy to make. So is roasted red pepper puree soup. Chili and lentil soups are good too.

If you want to make cream-based soups, substitute a potato for the cream. Adds the creaminess without the fat!

I am obsessed with soup and always have been. It's just perfect. I pretty much eat soup for every meal and have several types that I make and jar to always have something on hand.
Online recipes that I particularly like:

Spicy Tomato Blue Cheese Soup (I switch out cream for evaporated skim milk) Link

Sun Dried Tomato Soup Link

Roasted Broccoli (I added a T or so of Romano cheese to my bowl before serving) Link

Split Pea with Ham (I switch out hock for smoked turkey neck) Link

Chicken and Lentil Link

Nothing can beat broth, some noodles (I use what's on hand) and veggies. Sometimes I go more Asian and put a bit of stir fry, hoisin, and/or sriracha into the broth.

When possible, I like to use veggie broth, but only because it's more accommodating for sharing. Trader Joe's broth has 140mg of sodium per serving which is far less than I've seen for purported "low sodium" brands.