Butternut squash soup is one of the healthiest dishes you can add to your Paleo lifestyle. Here are five great reasons to add it to the regular menu, as well as over a dozen recipes that show you just how versatile it can be.
1. Great for High Blood Pressure
High blood pressure is sometimes referred to as “the silent killer” so it’s important to eat foods and follow a lifestyle that supports healthy blood pressure numbers. Our early ancestors likely didn’t have issues with their blood pressure, even with a challenging environment and regular survival situations. In our modern society it’s very important to maintain a healthy blood pressure, which reduces the likelihood of heart disease, all else being equal.
It’s the potassium in butternut squash that helps out your blood pressure the most. It will help correct the negative effects of a diet high in sodium, which for many Americans is the standard. When you make butternut squash soup you are getting a good dose of potassium, vitamins, and minerals to support several of the body’s basic functions.
2. Improved Blood Sugar Levels
Keeping your blood sugar at the right level will keep you feeling focused and alert throughout the day, and helps you shed weight more easily. The Paleo diet will help in this area thanks to the foods it promotes, as well as the ones it excludes, like sugar and grains. Almost every Paleo follower reports better blood sugar levels compared to when they were eating regular American foods like sandwiches, pizzas, sodas, and candy bars.
It’s the fiber in butternut squash that helps keep your blood sugar levels where they need to be. Having a cup of butternut squash soup can contribute greatly to the amount of fiber you’re supposed to get each day. It’s one of the most delicious ways to eat butternut squash, and as we’ll see below there are plenty of ways to prepare it to keep it interesting.
3. Increased Weight Loss
By switching over to the Paleo diet you’ve probably noticed a difference in the way your clothes fit and how good you feel. Eating butternut squash soup is another step towards reaching and maintaining your goal weight. You’re getting antioxidants, minerals, and fiber in each spoonful of butternut squash soup, and it can also help fill you up so you don’t eat as much during the meal, making it the perfect side dish.
Even though the Paleo diet is not about counting calories, carbs, or anything else, it’s interesting to note that butternut squash gets its weight loss properties by the high amount of nutrients relative to the number of calories it contains. You’ll fill up and feel satisfied while keeping your overall number of calories low.
4. Immune System Support
The stronger your immune system is, the better you’re going to feel everyday and for the long term. Butternut squash helps it with two powerful antioxidants. The first is Vitamin C, with a one cup serving of butternut squash soup giving you over half of the Vitamin C you need each day. Since this is a water-soluble vitamin you’ll need to eat foods that give you a re-up each day. It’s easy on Paleo, with the large number of vegetables and few pieces of fruit consumed each day.
The bright orange color of butternut squash is a signal that it’s high in beta-Carotene, like carrots and sweet potatoes. The beta-Carotene converts to Vitamin A inside the body, and acts as an antioxidant that helps battle back free radicals, reducing the load on the immune system and allowing it to work on other tasks to keep you well.
5. Helps Keep You Regular
Meeting your daily fiber requirement is key while on Paleo, and butternut squash soup can help you get there. Staying regular will give you greater feelings of energy, which in turn will get you up off of the couch and out and about, which can burn calories and help you lose weight faster. The Paleo diet bumps up your fiber level automatically because of the strong focus on vegetables and other high-fiber foods like nuts and seeds.
One cup of cubed butternut squash gets you nearly three grams of fiber, but when you blend it up into a soup you are getting more squash per cup so you can expect to get around 4-5 grams of fiber in a cup of butternut squash soup. If your goal is 25 grams of fiber a day you’ve already knocked out a fifth of your requirement in just one bowl.
12 Wholesome Butternut Squash Soup Recipes
Roasted Butternut Squash Soup– Rebecca has come up with one of the tastiest versions of butternut squash soup, complete with onions, apples, cinnamon, and cumin.
Basic Butternut Squash Soup– Let’s start with the basics, how to go from a raw butternut squash to a completed butternut squash soup in 25 minutes with just four ingredients.
Apple and Butternut Squash Soup with Bacon– Paleo is known for making things better with bacon, and in this recipe they’re accentuating butternut squash soup with apples and bacon.
Cauliflower and Butternut Squash Soup– Adding cauliflower into the mix gives you a cruciferous vegetable that helps the body detox and is a documented ally against cancer and heart disease.
Persian Butternut Squash Soup– An array of spices gives this butternut squash soup a Persian influence. You’ll love the mix of cinnamon, nutmeg, cumin, and cardamom with the squash flavor.
Turkey and Butternut Squash Soup– Turkey gives the butternut squash soup a savory flavor, while adding in protein and making it a complete Paleo meal in minutes.
Curried Apple-Butternut Squash Soup– Curry powder has a way of making most any dish better, and here they’ve added to an apple-infused butternut squash soup that steals the show.
Ginger Carrot Butternut Squash Soup– The fresh taste of ginger helps accentuate this soup, and they’ve also added in some carrot for an even brighter color and more beta-Carotene.
Spicy Harissa Butternut Squash Soup– Take a walk on the spicy side thanks to a spicy harissa, and a soup topped with pumpkin seeds and crispy mint leaves to wow the taste buds.
Creamy Butternut Squash Soup– You can have creamy soups on Paleo, they just won’t be made with cream. Here they’re using coconut milk for a smooth texture and great flavor.
Curried Butternut Squash Soup– There’s a darker color to this butternut squash soup because of the added ingredients. Spices like curry powder, turmeric, and cayenne pepper jazz it up.
Roasted Butternut Squash Soup with Ginger & Chipotle– Roasting the butternut squash before turning it into a soup adds a ton of extra flavor, as does the ginger and spicy chipotle powder.
Butternut Beef Taco Soup – You can use butternut squash soup as the base to a complete meal, with grass-fed beef chunks and traditional taco seasonings that make it something really special.
