How Healthy Is Homemade Chicken Soup?

We’ve all heard that chicken soups are the perfect cure for the common cold, and that homemade chicken soup trumps canned soup every time. However, you might wonder if any of that is really true. What is it about chicken broth that makes it so good for dealing with colds and other problems? Let us take a look at a few studies on the health benefits of this popular traditional food.

In the twelfth century, the Egyptian doctor and philosopher Moshe Ben Maimonides noted that chicken soup was an excellent choice for people trying to cure respiratory infections, and he probably was not the first. There is a pretty good chance that he had already seen the idea in earlier Greek writings. Now, modern researchers have joined in to find out if chicken soup really has the healing properties that are attributed to it.

The University of Nebraska Medical Center’s esteemed Dr. Stephen Rennard has taken a look at chicken soup in a controlled lab experiment. He first wondered whether chicken soup was a good cold cure when his wife made some in their kitchen. We know that hot drinks and soups can make sore throats feel better and relieve congestion through steam, but is there more to it than that?

He took three batches of homemade chicken soup with matzo balls into the laboratory and studied them, including their effect on our white blood cells. These are the immune cells that fight off illness. Specifically affected were the neutrophils, cells that are responsible for congestion and inflammation. They were prevented from causing inflammation by contact with the soup. Commercially made soups and homemade types both responded the same way, but we still do not know exactly why.

Chicken soup might also be good for your blood pressure. According to researchers from the Nippon Meat Packers Research and Development Centre in Japan, the chicken in the soup might work a lot like blood pressure medicines called ACE inhibitors. The collagen proteins found in chicken legs helped decrease blood pressure in this study. Of course, chicken soup usually contains a lot of salt, which might nullify this effect.

Could chicken soup keep you thin? Soups might let you feel full for much longer than dry meals, simply due to the amount of water they contain. That can help you eat less than you would normally, and reduces your caloric intake overall. Volunteers in a study at the University of Nottingham received either a grilled chicken, vegetables and water, or a chicken soup made from the same ingredients. People who ate the soup were full for a lot longer.

So, is chicken soup really a miracle food? We are still not sure. We know that both soup and chicken have some real health benefits, but they might not be better than vegetable soups. However, you probably cannot go wrong trying it. This is a protein and nutrient filled comfort food that will keep your body strong while you fight off illness. Chicken soup is definitely worth a try when you get sick.

Therefore, next time someone tells you to have a nice bowl or mug of chicken soup for your cold, make sure you do. Soup in general offers all kinds of health benefits, and it also tastes great. There is no reason not to try it!

For a full selection of chicken soup and chicken stew recipes see the site dedicated to its perfection, ChickenNoodleSoups.com. Everything chicken soup nothing not even dessert.