You've likely heard it proclaimed throughout your entire
life: chicken soup is good medicine.
Whether it was your mother, grandmother, or a Campbell's
soup commercial handing out the advice, a steaming bowl of
chicken soup has been touted as the cure for just about every
ailment, from the common cold to a nasty scrape on the knee.
But is chicken soup, in and of itself, really a "medicine"
of sorts? Does it actually possess healing capabilities, or
is its magic all in our heads?
Before there was soup, there was broth, which people
used to pour over a piece of bread in a bowl. That bread
was known as "sop." From sop came the word
used for today's winter favorite, soup.
Back in the Day
Around the 12th century trusted healers started to prescribe
"the broth of fowl" for their ill patients. It was
during that time that Egyptian Jewish physician and philosopher,
Rabbi Moshe ben Maimonides, started to write extensively about
the benefits of chicken soup.
The ancient healer wrote, "The meat taken should be
that of hens or roosters and their broth should also be taken
because this sort of fowl has virtue in rectifying corrupted
Maimonides used his 'fowl brew' to treat such things like
hemorrhoids, constipation, and even leprosy. He strongly believed
and especially praised the brew's healing power for respiratory
illnesses like the common cold.
Since then, many researchers and scientists have pondered
the question of whether or not chicken soup has any real health
benefits to patients suffering from a cold. Some have even
done experiments to see if there is such proof.
Is the Proof in the Soup?
Dr. Stephen Rennard, MD at the University of Nebraska Medical
Center, thought his family's chicken soup really did work,
but as a scientist, he wanted proof.
"One day we were discussing chicken soup," Rennard
explains. "My wife says that grandma says this is good
for colds, and I said maybe it has some anti-inflammatory
Rennard tested his theory and added his wife's home made
chicken soup to white blood cells, called neutrophils. To
his surprise, the soup did slow the neutrophils. In fact,
he claims that chemicals in the broth-based
elixir clears a stuffy nose by inhibiting inflammation of
the cells in the nasal passages.
Dr. Rennard did admit that there needed to be more studies
conducted, but believes his findings are one more piece to
complete the puzzle.
Since Dr. Rennard's findings in the early 1990's, several
studies have since agreed with his results, and show chicken
soup as a "relief" for the common cold, not a "cure."
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
Chicken soup is a soup made by boiling chicken parts
or bones in water, with various vegetables and flavorings.
The classic chicken soup consists of a clear broth,
often served with small pieces of chicken or vegetables,
or with noodles or dumplings, or grains such as rice
and barley. In the United States chicken soup is considered
a classic comfort food.
The "Guts" of Chicken Soup
When you are feeling under the weather, it seems that everything
hot helps to make you feel better. However, the good thing
about chicken soup is that - properly prepared such as the
recipes below - it is loaded with valuable nutrients. This
Chicken: Chicken contains an amino acid called cysteine,
a substance released when you make the soup. This amino acid
is similar to the drug acetylcysteine, which is prescribed
by doctors to patients with bronchitis. It thins the mucus
in the lungs, making it easier to cough out. And hot
chicken vapors have been proven more effective than hot water
vapors in clearing out the cold in your nose.
Carrots: Carrots, one of the routine vegetable ingredients
found in chicken soup, are the best natural source of beta-carotene.
The body takes that beta-carotene and converts it to vitamin
A. Vitamin A helps prevent and fight off infections by enhancing
the actions of white blood cells that destroy harmful bacteria
Onions: Onions, another chicken soup regular, contains
quercetin, a powerful anti-oxidant that is also a
natural anti-histamine, and anti-inflammatory.
While chicken soup isn't a cure for a cold, it does help
alleviate some of the annoying symptoms that come with it.
And, if nothing else, it definitely is a delicious, comforting
meal that helps keep your body hydrated.
To get the full benefits, of course, we recommend homemade
chicken soup using only natural ingredients.
The next time the cold bug has you down, stay warm, get a
lot of rest, and try slurping away on one of these three chicken
soup recipes (maybe you can coax someone else into making
one of them for you!)
|| Dr. Rennard's Chicken Soup
1 large roasting chicken or baking hen (6 to 7 pounds)
1 package chicken wings or drumsticks (10 to 12 pieces)
10 medium carrots, peeled
3 large onions, peeled and quartered
3 parsnips, peeled
1 large sweet potato, peeled
2 turnips, peeled
6 stalks celery
1 bunch parsley
salt and pepper to taste
Wash the whole chicken and chicken parts. Place in 8-quart
soup pot, fill three-quarters full with water and bring
to a boil. Add carrots, onion, parsnips, sweet potato
Simmer covered for 1-1/2 hours. Add celery and parsley
and cook for another 45 minutes. Spoon out the chicken
Remove the vegetables along with a small amount of the
broth; puree, then stir back into the soup. Salt and pepper
Stephen Rennard, M.D., is chief of pulmonary medicine
at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. The
recipe actually is a time-tested family recipe, handed down
by his wife's grandmother.
|| Thai Chicken Soup
This is a mild but spicy chicken soup, flavored with the
very unique flavor of galangal ("kha" in Thai) which
creates a heavenly taste when combined with hot chile peppers,
coconut milk, lime leaves and lemongrass.
16 fluid ounces organic chicken soup broth
4-5 kaffir lime leaves, shredded
4 or 5 2 inch pieces fresh lemongrass, bruised to release
1 inch cube (or a bit more) galangal sliced thinly
4 tablespoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons lime juice
4 oz organic chicken breast cut into smallish bite sized
5 fluid ounces coconut milk
small red Thai chili peppers, slightly crushed (to taste)
coriander (cilantro) leaves to garnish.
Note the number of red peppers is a personal choice. It can
be as few as half a chili per diner, to
as many as 8-10 per diner, but the dish should retain a balance
of flavors and not be overwhelmend by the chili peppers. We
suggest about 8-12 chili peppers for this recipe.
Heat the stock, add the lime leaves, lemongrass, galangal,
fish sauce, and lime juice. Stir thoroughly and bring to a
boil. Add the chicken and coconut milk, then the chili peppers.
Bring back to the boil. Once boiling, lower the heat and simmer
for about 2 minutes (until the chicken is cooked through).
|| Amish Chicken Noodle Soup
3 lb. grass-fed chicken
2 qts. water
2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 c. organic chicken stock
2 c. celery, chopped
2 c. carrots, chopped
1 tart apple, chopped
1 c. onions, chopped
4 c. egg noodles
Place chicken in kettle with 2 quarts water. Cover until
tender (about 2 1/2 hours). Remove chicken from kettle and
strain broth. De-bone chicken and return to kettle with strained
Add chicken stock, celery, carrots, apple, onions, and pepper
and cook until vegetables are tender.
Add noodles and cook 8-10 minutes