Soup's On...I Feel Thinner Already

We never ate much soup when I was a kid. Come to think of it, chili was about as close as we ever came...no chicken noodle soup or broth when we felt poorly: just castor oil and/or dandelion wine. I guarantee you that after just a sip of either of those remedies, you would swear to feeling MUCH better in no time...cured almost miraculously! Of course, there was the wool rag smeared with Vicks plastered to our chests every night if we merely sniffled. That was an idea brought forth during the Inquisition, I think...nothing like wearing wool to bed when the temperature outside is 95. I'm squirming just thinking about it. But, back to soup: not for us, though I understand my sweetie's family ate soup regularly (must be a geographical thing). Even now, I'm much more attracted to something I can chew more than something I can slurp. Maybe that's why my weight is inching upward. Fortunately, there are scientists in Great Britain to help.
The BBC reported today that reseachers may have found a key to successful weight loss...it involves water. OK, OK, we all know that drinking water is good for us, and people on diets often drink water before meals to stave off hunger; but, the latest theory is that water by itself isn't very effective: it must be mixed with food to create...soup. Here's the supposed skinny on why soup's the thing:
It appears that when we eat, the pyloric sphincter closes, trapping the solids but allowing water to pass through! (this is important) Thus, the effect of drinking water before a meal is negated. However, if the water is mixed with the food as soup, the thicker consistency allows ALL of it to stay in the stomach while digestion takes over. This delays the next bout of hunger for more than 1 and 1/2 hours longer than the same food taken in as a solid with water on the side. The BBC managed the study. I'll include the URL.
Apparently, the "culprit" in the desire to eat is the hormone ghrelin which is produced in the wall of the stomach when there is nothing in there. The hormone screams "Feed me!" to the brain, and we get hungry...and eat some more. So, keeping food in the stomach longer keeps down the production of ghrelin. The production of this hormone also promotes fat storage and inhibits the breakdown of stored fat, both things designed to fuel obesity. Wow! Who knew? Food terrorists working right now!
I'm going to go make a pizza to slow that ghrelin stuff down! (of course, I'll throw it in the Magic Bullet with water for a stomach-occupying few hours.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/8068733.stm