Growing up, each time mum prepares White Soup (Nsala), the aroma always quickly makes anyone who perceives it get hungry. It is one of the best soups we enjoy.
Unfortunately at the time, we were not so interested in the health benefits. Although, in our mind, we knew that this soup is full of nutrients, considering all that goes into preparing it.
We will share with you these amazing real ingredients for white soup and also tell you why you should add them.
In Nigeria, white soup is a delicacy made from a combination of different protein sources and spices.
Ingredients For White Soup
Basically, the ingredients for making white soup may vary depending on the region and personal preferences.
However, here are some common ingredients:
- Assorted meat (beef, cow foot, tripe, chicken, goat meat, offal)
- Stock fish or dried fish
- Crayfish
- Pepper (scotch bonnet or habanero)
- Onions
- Fresh inner part of lemon grass tips (The very fresh inner part)
- Ataiko Olima
- Uyayak (Tetrapleura Tetraptera)
- Uziza seed (Piper guineense)
- Utazi leaves (Gongronema latifolium) (optional)
- Uda (This is optional. Make sure seed is removed if not your soup will be bitter)
- Cocoyam or yam or any other form of thickener
- Salt (sea salt preferably)
- Natural seasoning
Some people also add other ingredients like periwinkle, snails, and scent leaves (Ocimum gratissimum) to give the soup a unique taste.
Note that the ingredients above do not all need to be in your soup to make it sweet.
But the more you bring in, the more nutritious it is.
A Secret From The Old
I know that this soup is one of the most consumed soup by people of old. They say it is not full of oil like your Egusi and Ogbono soup.
Because of the combination of ingredients in this soup, you get lots of health benefits from it.
Here are some of the reasons they loved this soup.
White Soup Is Rich In Antioxidants
White soup is rich in antioxidants, vitamin and other minerals that are beneficial to your health.
For instance, Uyayak is rich in antioxidant called saponin which is able to cleans your system from fungi and other microorganisms (1).
Cleansing After Childbirth
Growing up, I saw older mothers and father eat this soup most times . Often, it is a special delicacy for women after childbirth.
It contains ingredients like Negro pepper which is amazing in cleansing the system of all left over blood (2).
Contains Anti-malaria Properties
This soup contains Flavonoids and this is an amazing antioxidant that your body needs to fight more infections.
People who have malaria can get remedy in this soup.
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It contains minerals and other antioxidants that help fight bacteria.
Lemon grass is widely used for treatment of malaria.
Lowers Bad Cholesterol
When I asked my father why the people of old love to eat white soup so much, he said it helped in reducing the amount of oil that goes into our system.
Now that I am researching the benefits of White soup, I can tell you that my father was right.
One of the benefits of saponin is to reduce the chances of cholesterol sneaking into your arteries.
White soup is rich in this antioxidant. This makes it amazing for persons that are trying to lower cholesterol level (3).
There is a multiplier effect that comes from this.
Boosts Your Immune System
Oyayak is also an amazing immune booster.
This medicinal spice contains flavonoid, saponin and other antioxidants that help boost your body’s power to fight infections (4).
White Soup Improves Heart Health
Because the soup helps lower cholesterol level, your heart will work better.
Indeed, different studies say high amount of bad cholesterol in the body could trigger heart issues.
This fat clogs your arteries and make flow of blood difficult. The heart will begin to have issues once this happens.
Prevents Chronic Diseases
Phenols and Sterols are present in this soup and those are amazing phytochemicals that help lower oxidation and inflammation that cause chronic diseases.
Indeed, you could lower the risk of heart diseases, cancer and other chronic diseases, with this soup in your diet.
Basically, adding this soup to your diet as often as possible helps ensure that you stay healthy and strong.
It is a good way of bringing vitamins and minerals like potassium, magnesium, manganese, iron, Calcium, sodium, phosphorus, zinc and others to your body.
These minerals are in most of the ingredients that you cook white soup with.