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How many times in your life has someone offered you a comforting bowl of chicken soup to nurse a cold? While my bowl of soup might have come straight out of a red and white can, I can say that I have fond memories of my mom gingerly carrying a bowl of steaming hot chicken noodle soup with a side of Ritz crackers to my “sick couch” – the only time we were permitted to eat in the living room!
Yesterday morning after sending the kids off to school I was setting up a batch of chicken soup in my slow cooker, which just so happens to be one of my family’s favorite weeknight soups. As I was preparing the soup I started thinking about the genuineness of the longstanding idea that chicken soup has therapeutic benefits. Can chicken soup really help mend a cold or is this notion just fable passed down from one loving generation to another? With Google at my fingertips I decided to address my curiosity and investigate it further. Its kind of an amusing story, here is what I found:
The Ancients Believed
Since the 12th century trusted healers started prescribing “the broth of fowl” to the ill. They believed that this “fowl brew” could treat everything from leprosy to hemorrhoids. They also believed it was particularly useful in treating respiratory illnesses such as the common cold.
Grandma Must Really Know Best
Many years later, Dr. Stephen Rennard from the University Of Nebraska Medical Center, decided to put his own age-old family recipe for chicken soup to the test in an effort to prove that chicken soup really did have medicinal qualities. He claims that his interest in this research was peeked when his wife said that “grandma says this is good for colds,” which got him thinking about the possible anti-inflammatory benefits of chicken soup.
Dr. Rennard tested his theory with the help of his wife’s homemade chicken soup. Based on his research he discovered that the “chemicals in the broth-based elixir clears a stuffy nose by inhibiting inflammation of the cells in the nasal passages.”
While even Dr. Rennard believed more research needed to be completed to substantiate his findings, he did feel that his research proved there was something real here, not just family folklore and myth pasted down through the generations.
Relief From Cold Symptoms That Taste Good Too
In the early 90’s additional research studies were completed and although they each had their own unique findings one conclusive result in all of these studies showed that while chicken soup did not present a cure for the common cold it did seem to provide genuine “relief.”
“All research agrees that the soup helps break up congestion and eases the flow of nasal secretions. In addition, many say it also inhibits the white blood cells that trigger the inflammatory response (causing sore throats and the production of phlegm).”
As someone else pointed out, even when you put this evidence aside, homemade chicken soup is chock full of lean protein and vegetables that also offer a nutritional boost and some anti-inflammatory properties. So while chicken soup might not be the miracle cure to get you back on your feet faster, it does seem to help alleviate many of the annoying symptoms of a cold as well as help to keep the body hydrated, not to mention make someone feel comforted and cared for – and remember, let them eat their soup in the living room!
Here is my recipe for chicken soup. I love it because I can set it up in the morning and come home to the comforting smell of grandma’s kitchen (not to mention, the relief that dinner is already done!).
Slow Cooker Chicken Noodle Soup with Vegetables
Adapted from Fix-It and Forget-It Lightly
Makes 4-6 Servings
