Consuming soup can be healthy if sodium levels are monitored, as the majority of Americans exceed the recommended daily limit for sodium. The National Salt Reduction Initiative aims to decrease salt in foods by 20% over five years, and it is advised to choose soups with less than 480 mg of sodium. A recipe for apple soup is provided, featuring ingredients like apples, white bread, and sour cream.

1. Sipping a bowl of soup is an easy way to give yourself a healthful boost — as long as you keep an eye on the
nutrition label. Nearly 99 percent of us consume more than 1,500 milligrams of sodium a day, the upper limit
recommended for African Americans, people older than 50 and those with high blood pressure or chronic
kidney disease, according to a recent analysis from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.
(The 1,500 figure covers about half of the U.S. population; the limit for most other people is 2,300
milligrams.)
And much of the sodium in our diet is in prepared foods such as soup. The good news is that the National Salt
Reduction Initiative is working with foodmakers to reduce salt intake by 20 percent over the next five years.
To help cut your salt intake, select soups with no more than 480 milligrams of sodium per serving. Opt for
broth-based vegetable soups with about 150 calories in each bowl. “You want to get the most food for the
least calories to fill you up, which is really the soup strategy,” says Barbara Rolls, the author of “The Ultimate
Volumetrics Diet” and a professor of nutritional sciences at Pennsylvania State University.
A good way to start tasting the benefits of soups would be to try cooking one.
Apple Soup

2. Ingredients
1 lb. apples
8 oz. white bread (crumbled)
½ cup granulated sugar
1 lemon rind strip
1 cup cooked rice
½ cup sour cream
Preparation Instructions
1. Wash, peel, core, and slice the apples. Place in a saucepan with the white bread
and lemon rind. Add 4 cups hot water and turn the heat to medium high. Bring to
a boil. Cover and simmer until the apples are soft.
2. Strain. Press the apple mixture through a sieve. Place the resulting puree into a
clean saucepan and add the sugar. Add enough of the cooking liquid to make the
mixture the consistency of thick soup. Bring to a boil.
3. Serve each bowl with 1 tablespoon of rice and some sour cream.