Is borscht a healthy/non fattening soup soup?

[Anonymous]

My boyfriend is Russian and i'm having dinner with his parents tonight, his mom is cooking borscht and some other Russian foods. Would say that it's healthy/non fattening? And what about other Russian foods, are they healthy too?

[BlueCoyote]

Uhm... I'd say it's quite healthy but what you have to keep in mind is that Russian food (including Borscht) is generally VERY hearty and heavy. That's why I personally don't like it so much. The Russian diet is pretty high in carbs (lots of potatoes for example) and other hearty ingredients. Coming from a culture with a hearty cuisine myself, I would say that it's healthy if you eat it in moderation but it can be unhealthy if you eat too much of it. For example in my country Switzerland, almost everyone works out a lot. Being physically active is very important to Swiss people. This is why you won't see any overweight people in Switzerland despite the hearty cuisine. But if you go to Germany, especially big cities such as Berlin or Hamburg, you can see tons of really fat people in public. I don't know how it is exactly in Russia but I'm sure there are also some overweight people.

[sovetskii13]

Depends on the type of borsch. There is a type made of meat-based broth, and a type made strictly from vegetables. The one from vegetables is obviously the healthiest kind. Majority of Russian food is healthy.

[bubbletrouble]

Yeah its pretty healthy and tastes awful

[orphan]

if it has sugar.. it's fattening. (non fibrous carbs)