Chicken soup for the common cold

0 Comments | Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Jan 10, 2007 | by TERESA J. FARNEY THE GAZETTE

It's no fun having a cold, and it's especially no fun having to gag down pills and purple syrup to get respite from the congestion.

Here's a more palatable way to get relief: chicken soup. Whether homemade or from a can, there's proof that relief from commoncold symptoms can come from a steaming cup of chicken soup.

We said "proof," as in validation from the scientific community, although Jewish mothers through the ages never needed a peer- reviewed study to validate the salubrious effects of chicken soup.

"I think it does make you feel good -- it warms the heart and soul," said Susan Schenk, who caters for Temple Shalom. "And if your stomach is not feeling so good, it's easy to digest."

She then cites a passage from "Jewish Cooking in America," a cookbook from one of her favorites, Joan Nathan.

"In this book, she says, 'It is anyone's guess who started the story about chicken soup being the Jewish mother's penicillin, but we all know that it works.'"

Yet, some people want hard evidence to show that the chicken- soup effect isn't just some psychological game.

Enter the researchers.

In a 2000 issue of Bon Apptit, author Marie Simmons wrote about a study that had been conducted at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Florida. Fifteen people with colds were divided into three groups.

"One group sipped hot chicken soup; one group, hot water; and the third group, cold water," she wrote. "It came as no surprise to grandmas across the country that the group sipping hot chicken soup got faster relief from cold symptoms."

A subsequent study that year, by pulmonary specialist Dr. Stephen Rennard, showed that hot chicken soup reduced the action of white blood cells that are attracted to areas of inflammation and can cause nasal irritation.

The Oct. 17, 2000, issue of CHEST, the peer-reviewed journal of the American College of Chest Physicians, chronicled Rennard's study.

For years, Rennard, a doctor at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, had watched his wife cook chicken soup using a recipe from her Lithuanian grandmother, who used it as a remedy when a cold was going around her family of 10.

"She told me the soup was good for colds," he wrote in his journal report. "I've heard that a zillion times. Then I started to think, well, maybe it has some anti-inflammatory value. Everyone's heard this from their mother in many cultures."

He took three homemade batches of his wife's chicken soup to his lab to evaluate it under controlled conditions. Researchers collected neutrophils -- the most common white cell in the blood that defends the body against infection -- from blood donated by healthy, nonsmoking volunteers. The goal: to see whether chicken soup would, indeed, block the movement of neutrophils, thereby soothing runny noses and scratchy throats.

The scientists diluted the soup and subjected the neutrophils to several variations: plain chicken soup, chicken soup with vegetables, and chicken soup with a combination of vegetables and spices.

Samples taken with chicken broth alone helped but were not as effective in inhibiting neutrophil movement as the other combinations of chicken soup.

Although researchers could not identify the exact ingredient or ingredients in the soup that made it effective against fighting cold symptoms, they theorized that a combination of ingredients work together to produce medicinal benefits.

"I think it's the concoction," Rennard said.

Even more convincing research comes from Dr. Irwin Ziment, a pulmonary specialist and professor at the UCLA School of Medicine, who said chicken soup contains druglike agents similar to those in modern cold medicines. For example, an amino acid released from chicken during cooking chemically resembles the drug acetylcysteine, prescribed for bronchitis and other respiratory problems.

Other ingredients in chicken soup play a role, too. Spices that are often added to chicken soup, such as garlic and pepper -- ancient treatments for respiratory diseases -- work the same way as modern cough medicines, thinning mucus and making breathing easier.

He also noted that chicken soup's benefits might go beyond chemical reactions and the obvious effect of rehydration.

"The psychological and physical comfort (that) soup provides may also have a placebo effect for those who are feeling ill," he said.

Bottom line: Chicken soup will not cure a cold, but it will make you feel a whole lot better. But then, lots of moms already knew that.

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0271 or teresa.farney@gazette.com

DR. STEPHEN RENNARD'S RECIPE FOR GRANDMA'S SOUP

Yield: 10 servings

1 (5- to 6-pound) stewing hen or baking chicken

1 (1-pound) package chicken wings

3 large onions

1 large sweet potato

3 parsnips

2 turnips

1-2 large carrots

1 bunch of parsley

5-6 celery stems

Salt and pepper, to taste

Procedure: 1. Clean chicken and place in large pot. Add enough cold water to cover and bring to boil. Add chicken wings, onions, sweet potato, parsnips, turnips and carrots. Boil about 1 1/2 hours. Remove fat from surface as it accumulates.

2. Add parsley and celery. Cook about 45 minutes longer.