Can chicken soup cure your cold?
You’ve heard, or perhaps believe, that chicken soup can “cure a cold,” or at least take the wind from it’s sails.
But is that really true?
Dr. Stephen Rennard, a professor and researcher at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, set out to find the answer. He hypothesized that eating chicken soup while sick could reduce the movement of neutrophils, a type of white blood cell involved with our immune defenses. If that worked, it should reduce the cold virus’ ability to create inflammation in the upper respiratory tract.
Indeed, his hypothesis proved correct! In fact, the movement of neutrophils was reduced in several variations of chicken soup.
Scientists expect that some combination of ingredients produces the beneficial effect, an example of how whole foods — packed with vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and phytonutrients — are worth more than the sum of their parts.
