'Power Souping' offers filling alternative to juicing, dietitian says

BEVERLY HILLS (KABC) -- The juicing trend doesn't appear to be fading anytime soon. Dietitian Rachel Beller suggests an upgrade by way of soup, which can offer a filling way to energize while losing a few.

"With juicing I found that people were starving, like 20 minutes, 30 minutes after, they're starving," Beller said.

She feels that's especially true when juice cleansing.

Yet soup has similar ingredients with all that the produce provides, instead just a part of the plant.

"Letting your body nourish itself while you're eating clean foods - that's the definition of a detox here. More fiber, things that naturally will help clean your system," Beller said.

Her new "Power Souping" cookbook has recipes for hot and cold soups.

Some are similar to smoothies, like her green pea asparagus parsley de-bloat soup and her a.m. "Apple Teeny."

For those wanting to jump start weight loss, she provides a three day plant-based soup cleanse.

"People want to lose weight, so they want something that's a one-shot deal, ready to go," Beller said.

Beyond sipping soup, Beller adds extras she calls "toppers."

Free toppers are low-calorie, spicy, flavorful extras, while fat toppers are small doses of good, healthy fat to make you feel full.

Free toppers include basil or celery leaves, broccoli sprouts and cayenne pepper.

Fat toppers include cashew cream, pine nuts, pesto and avocado. They give your taste buds that fat feel it's looking for.

There's also power toppers that offer your bowl a boost of nutrition like nutritional yeast, herbs and even sauerkraut.

Protein toppers include spicy garbanzo beans and surprisingly - watermelon seeds.

"Thirteen grams of protein in just a third of a cup," Beller described.

Research indicates eating soup decreases calorie consumption by 20 percent and enhances health and satisfaction.

"Flexibility, convenience, affordability," Beller said.

But do plan for prep time. Beller makes soup on weekends, so it's ready for the week. She suggests having friends at work take turns bringing soup to share.