Chicken Soup: Natural Medicine

Chicken Soup as Medicine? Grandma Was Right Afterall!

You've likely heard it proclaimed at least once during your life: chicken soup is good medicine. Chicken soup is simply a soup made by boiling a whole chicken, chicken parts or bones in water, with various vegetables, herbs and seasonings. 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, but is chicken soup really a "medicine" of sorts? Modern day research does show that Grandma's chicken soup possesses healing capabilities, read on...

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 humours." Maimonides used his fowl-based broth 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.

Modern day researchers and scientists continue to wonder: does chicken soup have real health benefits? Dr. Stephen Rennard, MD at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, tested this theory and added his wife's home made chicken soup to white blood cells, called neutrophils. To his surprise, the soup did have an effect on the neutrophils. In fact, Dr.Rennard's research shows that natural chemicals in the chicken broth clear a stuffy nose by stopping inflammation of the cells in the nasal passages.

Since Dr. Rennard's findings in the early 1990's, several studies have since agreed with his results, and show that chicken soup is effective relief for the common cold. 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, which is means chicken soup can help relieve sore throats and reduce the production of phlegm.

A Cup of Chicken Soup a Day Keeps the Doctor Away
A study by the National University of Singapore found that chicken soup can even help keep the heart healthy. Researchers fed rats (with high-blood pressure) concentrated chicken soup, the rats had a 40% to 50% reduction in heart swelling, and a 60% decrease in the thickening of blood vessels over a year compared with the control group. The amount of chicken soup fed to the rats was equivalent to an adult man drinking about the volume of a standard cup (coffee mug).

Researchers believes a specific peptide, a type of short protein, that is found in human blood and produced by most tissues, is the key to how chicken soup keeps the heart and blood vessels healthy. This naturally occurring peptide moderates the health of your blood vessels, and while peptides are present in most meat proteins, those found in chicken are unique.

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, 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 and viruses.

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 many of the annoying symptoms that come with it, and of course it is a delicious, comforting meal that helps keep your body hydrated. To get the full benefits of chicken soup avoid canned soups. Make your own homemade chicken soup using only natural or organic ingredients - it's easier than you think! Click here for a simple and easy chicken soup recipe.
Sources:
1.http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2001/04/04/chicken-soup.aspx

2.http://www.sixwise.com/newsletters/05/12/14/does_chicken_soup_have_healing_powers_004.htm