The soup that relieves cold symptoms: backed by science and already recommended by Maimonides

It seems that the cold days are coming to an end and temperatures of up to 10 degrees below zero are becoming history, at least for a while.

But the traces that these colds have left on many of us, especially in the form of a cold, will not go away so easily or so quickly.

So, since in most cases we do not need an antibiotic, there are many people who begin to look for home remedies, or to remember the things that their grandmothers said.

And among them we surely remember the advantages of some useful foods to stimulate our immune system and relieve symptoms or defeat the cold:

• a lemon juice

• some garlic

• pomegranate juice

• A good homemade punch, only for those who are not taking medication…

One person serves a bowl of hot soup. ShutterStock

Remedies tested but not proven

The recommendations of the grandmothers, tested on countless occasions, have never been scientifically confirmed, so the specialists we have consulted do not give a clear answer in their favor. But they don’t make a bad face either. Rather the complete opposite:

• “Things that have been recommended in villages for years do not have a proven scientific basis, but since we know that they are not bad, nothing happens to pay attention to them.”

What’s more, since what is certain is that a body with a cold needs to hydrate and gain tone, they assure that it is better to listen to the grandmothers than to do nothing.

What does science say about a good hot soup?

Among all the recommendations that are usually given to combat cold symptoms, there is one that always wins and that is also very appetizing, especially when we are “touched”: soup!!

Of course, soup is too generic a term for a doctor to answer.

But if we turn the question into a good chicken soup, we may be surprised by the doctor’s answer:

“If we talk about a soup that includes:

• protein like chicken

• Carbohydrates like noodles or a little rice

• Some fat (in the form of oil, for example)

• Vegetables that provide vitamins and minerals…

We would be talking about a good food option to fight the cold. Because it satisfies, it is nutritious and it provides liquids to our body”.

Chicken Soup Recipe

From , the gastronomy portal of El Periódico, they assure that chicken soup is one of the easiest, simplest and most comforting recipes in the entire cookbook. A dish that “can be cooked without many complications” and that is perfect to eat on these cold days.

Ingredients:

• Half chicken
• 1 leek
• 3 carrots
• 3 or 4 liters, approximately, of water depending on the pot and the amount of broth that you want to make
• 100 g of thin noodles
• Salt to taste

Elaboration:

1. To remove the fat from this broth, we clean the chicken skins and remove any traces of fat that may be present. However, we can also cook it with the skin on and brown it a bit before adding the vegetables.
2. In a large pot, add the chicken with the chopped vegetables, season with salt to taste and add the water until the container is half filled, more or less.
3. Cook the chicken with the vegetables for 40 minutes, with the pot closed and over low heat.
4. After this time, we will strain the broth and reserve the chicken and vegetables.
5. To this broth we can add the noodles and accompany it with the chicken and vegetables that we want.

Scientific studies

We may never have thought about it, but the reality is that there are quite a few studies on the health benefits of traditional chicken soup.

One of the most recent is led by the dr stephen rennardprofessor of pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine at the .

In this research published in the , the researchers start with the following statement:

• “Chicken soup has long been considered a remedy for symptomatic upper respiratory tract infections.”

And from there they focus the objective of their study with the following words:

• “Since the clinical similarity of the various infectious processes that can result in ‘colds’ is likely due to a shared inflammatory response, if there is an effect of chicken soup in mitigating inflammation we might explain its proven benefits.”

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Neutrophils dipped in chicken soup

So they decided to investigate how chicken soup affects the body’s neutrophils, which are the immune cells that travel to the site of infection and initiate inflammation that causes symptoms such as sore throats and coughs.

And they say that when they dipped the cells in chicken soup, they didn’t migrate as much towards the infection, which could translate into less inflammation and fewer symptoms.

But it is a result obtained in a laboratory plate, and for this reason they assure that it is not enough to explain what happens with the cells of the body, if something happens.

In addition, Dr. Rennard adds that scientifically assuring that chicken soup can influence cold symptoms would require costly and lengthy clinical trials, which have not been conducted.

However, in the conclusions of their research, published in October 2000, the researchers state:

• “This studio suggests that chicken soup may contain several substances with beneficial medicinal activity. And a mild anti-inflammatory effect could be a mechanism by which this soup might result in alleviating symptomatic upper respiratory tract infections.”

And as protagonists of the benefit they include the chicken, but also the vegetables and, above all, the mixture of all in the soup.

In addition, and as if this were not enough, Dr. Rennard considers that chicken soup may have an added therapeutic value, due to the emotional experience it entails:

• “If someone makes you some chicken soup, especially if you really like it…