Can Chicken Soup Really Cure Your Cold?

We all know that chicken soup is the standard recommendation for colds and flues. After all, who does not remember spending time in bed with a bowl or mug of homemade soup when they were sick as a child? However, just what makes chicken soup so popular as a remedy? Here is a look at what scientific studies can tell us about the healing properties of chicken soup.

Moshe Ben Maimonides, the twelfth century Egyptian philosopher and doctor, wrote that chicken soup was a good remedy for illnesses that caused problems with breathing and other respiratory symptoms. It is probable that he took some of his belief in chicken soup from Greek writings he would read previously. Modern researchers have taken a look at some of the properties of chicken soup to find out if this age old belief is true.

Dr. Stephen Rennard, a professor at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, studied the medicinal activity of chicken soup to find out if it really did help illness. The heat and steam of soups in general is known to relieve congestion and throat problems, but is chicken soup better?

Three batches of matzo ball chicken soup were studied under controlled laboratory conditions, and shown to affect white blood cells. The specific cells affected were immune cells called neutrophils, which cause congestion. The soup prevented these blood cells from causing inflammation. Many commercially made soups, as well as the homemade variety, also showed this response. However, the ingredient responsible for this has not yet been identified.

Homemade chicken soup could be a good remedy for high blood pressure, too, as long as you make it correctly. The Nippon Meat Packers Research and Development Centre in Japan states that the chicken in the soup could work much like ACE inhibitors, a common type of blood pressure medication. Collagen proteins from chicken legs and meat can help decrease blood pressure. Just do not make your chicken soup with a lot of salt, or you could lose the benefits.

How about the ability of chicken soup to keep you thin? Popular soup diets are used because they help you feel full longer, tricking your body by including a lot of water. They can help you eat less than you might normally, and will keep your calorie intake a lot lower. A study at the University of Nottingham showed that volunteers who ate chicken soup were full longer than volunteers who ate a dry meal including the same ingredients (vegetables, chicken, and water).

Therefore, while it is not obvious that chicken soup is going to fight off colds better than a vegetable soup or other options, there is nothing wrong with treating your cold this way. A good hot bowl of chicken soup is filling, warm, and full of nutrients, including protein. It will help your body stay in better condition and provide the energy it needs to fight off that cold.

The next time you are sick and someone recommends you have a big bowl of chicken soup to help get rid of it, take his or her advice. You will enjoy a good meal that tastes great, and you could get some real health benefits, too.

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