Flu Patrol

Chicken soup for the flu

by Grace on December 7th, 2006

What is it with eating chicken soup when we’re sick?

Ok, so it is delicious. It’s a comfort food . Sipping the hot liquid unclogs the nose, much like a spicy food or hot pepper spray does. It makes you feel better. But does chicken soup itself help treat the colds or flu?

Surprisingly, scientists say it does!

Research published in the journal Chest (2000) proved in the laboratory that chicken soup has anti-inflammatory properties that help clear the upper respiratory tract, but it’s unclear exactly which of the ingredients are directly responsible. It seems cooking them up together combined to “achieve their beneficial effects”.

The researchers used a homemade recipe they dubbed “Grandma’s soup”. They even published the recipe as part of the “Methods” section (First time I’ve ever seen this in a peer-reviewed journal!).

Here’s the recipe for our enjoyment -

Traditional chicken soup was prepared according to a family recipe, which will be referred to as “Grandma’s soup” (C. Fleischer; personal communication; 1970). This recipe is as follows:

• 1 5- to 6-lb stewing hen or baking chicken;

• 1 package of chicken wings;

• 3 large onions;

• 1 large sweet potato;

• 3 parsnips;

• 2 turnips;

• 11 to 12 large carrots;

• 5 to 6 celery stems;

• 1 bunch of parsley; and

• salt and pepper to taste.

Clean the chicken, put it in a large pot, and cover it with cold water. Bring the water to a boil. Add the chicken wings, onions, sweet potato, parsnips, turnips, and carrots. Boil about 1.5 h. Remove fat from the surface as it accumulates. Add the parsley and celery. Cook the mixture about 45 min longer. Remove the chicken. The chicken is not used further for the soup. (The meat makes excellent chicken parmesan.) Put the vegetables in a food processor until they are chopped fine or pass through a strainer. Both were performed in the present study. Salt and pepper to taste. (Note: this soup freezes well.) Matzoh balls were prepared according to the recipe on the back of the box of matzoh meal.

And a note in the Discussion section:

The chicken soup recipe used for the majority of these experiments is very highly regarded locally.29 It does have several unusual features, however. First, it contains several vegetables, eg, sweet potato, not found in many chicken soup recipes; in addition, in many recipes, the vegetables are removed from the clear broth prior to serving. After removal, Grandma’s soup calls for the vegetables to be pureed and added to the soup. (We understand that this was a modification introduced by Grandma during the Great Depression to ensure that everyone ate the available vegetables.) The soup, as a result, contains a thick suspension of particulates.

[published paper in Chest: Rennard, BO. 2000.118:1150-1157]

( Also read Foods that Help with the Colds or Flu as a tandem post in participation of b5media Science and Health Channel’s December Theme Day: Food hosted by Ruth of Eating Fabulous)

Tags: chicken soup, flu, comfort food, anti-inflammation, respiratory tract, research

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