Chicken Soup: Cure For Common Cold, Immune Booster

IF not for anything else, the yuletide season has made chicken the most sought after meat for consumers. So, why not make it both dining and therapeutic delicacy even in Nigeria, where the chicken roosters, broilers and culled birds find their way to the family dining.

Again, Dr. Juliane Schlag highlights the healing properties for The Conversation.
The scientific evidence 

While there is a cultural belief that chicken soup has therapeutic properties, researchers cannot determine exactly why chicken soup, or which content of it, has a curative effect. 

Who knows, a turkey broth might be a fitting substitute. And, after Christmas, most people could do with a little pick-me-up.
Here is what we do know about chicken soup’s curative properties:

• Marvin Sackner, in 1978, conducted a study showing that drinking chicken soup was significantly better at clearing up congestion in the nose than drinking hot or cold water.

• In 1980, Irwin Ziment showed that chicken broth helps to thin mucus in the lungs – with a better effect being achieved when the broth was spiced. 

• His study was followed up in 2000 by Stephen Rennard, who argued that chicken soup, by reducing mucus in the lungs, supported the white blood cells in fighting a cold.

• Generally, the calcium content of the soup increases with the duration of cooking and, depending on the composition, can have a mild anti-inflammatory effect.

• Chicken soup is also said to have a calming effect, which has led some to claim it can also heal the soul.

• One study found soup helps clear a congested nose better than hot water. 

• Also reduces mucus in lungs and supports white blood cells fighting a cold.

• Calcium from the chicken meat has a mild anti-inflammatory effect.

Adapted from MailOnline