Two excellent excuses to get the soup pot out right now? It’s cold and flu season and there is empirical proof that chicken soup has real help for cold sufferers.
One of the leading reasons the elderly become sick with cold (and pneumonia) is they are often undernourished. And without the proper nutrients, they lack the ability to fight off illness.
Chicken soup provides both preventative nutrition, and relief for symptoms.
Dr. Stephen Rennard of The University of Nebraska Medical Center studied the impact of chicken soup on a body suffering from the common cold.
Rennard looked at the role of white blood cells, in particular the neutrophil, a white blood cell. The cell’s movement was impacted by the body’s consumption of Grandma’s chicken soup. He found that the soup had “a kind of anti-inflammatory activity.”
Rennard’s study was published in 2000 in the International Journal CHEST, the Cardiopulmonary and Critical Care Journal, and has since been cited in more than 1,200 further studies and research.
Rennard and his wife, Barbara, share their recipe via Youtube, though they noted that further research showed the specifics of the recipe didn’t impact the results.
Other Cultures, Other Soups.
Another chicken soup, congee (also called okaku, jook, or juk), has long been recognized for its healing benefits in traditional Chinese, Japanese, and Korean cultures.
Congee, a rice and chicken broth-based porridge, is easy on the digestive track. Recipes for congee often include ginger, which is widely known in Asia for its healing properties.
A printable version of the Rennard’s recipe is available here.
