Beauty Benefits of Zinc + Weight Loss Warrior Split Pea Soup

My, how I love my soups. I’m starting to experiment with more and more these days and my current obsession is a creamy yet dairy free split pea soup. I had split pea soup many times growing up. The nostalgia of sitting in my parent’s kitchen slurping up this delicacy before I make my way to imagination town (with my animal figurines) is still vivid in my head.

Because split peas are a glorious source of fiber, they  help you stay fuller longer and may help with weight control. 1 cup of peas (which is about what is in a serving of my split pea soup), has about 230 calories which makes it a great low calorie meal to pair with a salad or another plant based dish. These peas are also very low in the Glycemic index (if you don’t know what the Glycemic index is, you can read my article discussing it here) and a great source of plant based protein (1 cup has around 16 grams of protein). Finally, one of my favorite trace minerals for healthy looking skin, zinc, is found in split peas too.

Now there’s not a lot of zinc in split peas; 1 cup has 2mg. Yet the recommended daily dose of zinc for women is 8mg. So even having 2 bowls of soup throughout the day gives you %50 of your RDA (recommended daily allowance).  Let me write a quick little love letter to zinc and why I love it so:

Beauty Benefits of Zinc:

• Acts as an antioxidant by protecting our skin from free radical damage and irritation;
• Helps control inflammation and heals skin wounds (hello cystic acne) with promoting new cell production;
• Promotes a healthy functioning immune system;
• May ward off acne flare ups: YES! Rejoice ladies. Zinc may prevent blemish flare ups by the regulation of cellular turnover. Since it works as an inflammation defense mechanism, it may help with keeping major flare ups at bay;
• Acts as one of the enzymes that maintains healthy collagen levels in the body;

Now that I’ve got you all excited about eating zinc, let’s jump into my weight loss warrior split pea soup recipe!

Weight Loss Warrior Split Pea Soup

Ingredients:

• 4 cups of dried split peas
• 1 white onion
• 3 garlic cloves
• 6 cups water
• 2 vegetable bouillons
• 1 bay leaf
• black pepper + Himalayan salt to taste
• 1/2 cup nutritional yeast

Directions:

1. In a medium sized pot, bring the dried split peas in about 2 cups of water to a boil. Turn the heat down to a simmer and cook for about 45 minutes until the beans are tender
2. In a sauteing pan, heat up diced onion and garlic until translucent, about 7 minutes
3. Add 4 more cups of water and the bouillon cubes (try to find low sodium bouillon cubes)
4. Add the onion and garlic, bay leaf, and nutritional yeast
5. Simmer for another 20 minutes to let all the flavors settle
6. In a food processor, blend small batches of the soup until you get a creamy texture
7. Place in serving bowls, top with salt and pepper, and enjoy!

If you try out this recipe, let me know how you enjoy it!