According to Wikipedia, the expression from soup to nuts " is derived from the description of a full course dinner, in which courses progress from soup to a dessert of nuts... comparable to expressions in other languages, such as the Latin phrase ab ovo usque ad mala ("from the egg to the apples"), describing the typical Roman meal."
Most of us no longer begin our meal with soup and end it with nuts. But is it a healthier way of eating?
Researchers who created the "Volumetrics" diet discovered that the body processes a glass of water and a cup of soup differently. Soup (watered down food) is treated like food by the body, whereas a glass of water drunk with a meal isn't. (The Volumetrics diet gets its name from the concept that our bodies crave a certain volume of food. Eating soup fills the body up, "tricking" it into consuming less.) After eating a first course of soup, the body would presumably want to consume less main course. Nuts (rather than sweet food) as a final course would satisfy longer, as nuts are mainly protein, whereas sweet desserts have a lot of carbs (flour or sugar).
Why did we stop eating "from soup to nuts"? It takes more work to create a three-course meal starting with soup (or salad). When were nuts replaced by sweet desserts as a final course? Is the fact that we no longer eat "soup to nuts" part of the reason why so many of us are type 2 diabetics these days? (I say "in part" because lack of exercise - especially walking - appears to play a role in the problem, too.)
And after hearing the Latin expression mentioned in Wikipedia, I wonder if anyone has done food research based Roman dining habits - beginning a meal with eggs and ending it with apples!
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