Chicken soup helps fight flu

Researchers found that carnosine compounds in chicken soup help the body's immune system fight off colds in the early stages.

However, in the study report published in the American Journal of Therapeutics, the authors warn, the anti-flu effect of chicken soup will cease as soon as the body excretes it. This means, you need to supply carnosine compounds relatively continuously to the body.

According to the Daily Mail, this is not the first study to study the effect of chicken soup. More than a decade ago, Dr. Stephen Rennard from the University Hospital of Nebraska (Omaha, USA) wanted to find out why his wife's chicken soup recipe, which was passed down from generation to generation, has Such good healing effects.

Using blood samples from volunteers, Mr. Rennard discovered that chicken soup inhibits neutrophil activity - the most common type of white blood cell, resistant to infection.

Dr. Rennard hypothesized that, by inhibiting the migration of these anti-infection cells in the body, chicken soup helps reduce cold symptoms in the upper respiratory tract.

Carnosine compounds in chicken soup help the immune system
body's ability to fight off colds in the early stages.

The soup used in experiments includes chicken, onions, sweet potatoes, radish, carrots, celery, parsley, salt and pepper. What Dr. Rennard could not do was to accurately identify the ingredients that make chicken soup resistant to the flu effectively.

Another study by Miami scientists in the United States found that chicken soup is more effective than placebo. This study focused on understanding the impact of food consumption on airflow and mucus in the nose of volunteers drinking cold water, hot water and eating chicken soup.

The results proved what doctors have long guessed: hot liquids increase the activity of mucus in the nose. This will help clean up the upper airway, relieve nasal congestion.

Even so, soup is more effective than hot water because it also improves the function of protective cilia in the nose, preventing foreign objects from entering the body.

Researchers also found that many other common soups have similar effects. They said, maybe, the combination of nutrients has created synergy to fight the flu.

For example, organic sulfides (natural chemicals found in garlic and onions), along with Vitamin D, stimulate the production of immune cells called macrophages, while Vitamins C affects both neutrophil and interferon - another type of immune chemical.

Vitamin A and carotene, which are found in carrots (a common ingredient of broth, the basis of any delicious soup), help produce antibodies, while Vitamin E and zinc can affect The concentration of lymphocytes - a type of white blood cell.

Another reason you should use soup is, the nutrients in the soup will be absorbed more easily than in solid forms. Remember to add a little fat to ensure absorption of fat-soluble vitamins like D, A, K and E.

You don't have to just use chicken soup when you're sick, because there are other foods that contain such a rich nutrient content, including many fruits, vegetables, nuts and proteins.

Hot liquids, herbal teas and spirits mixed with hot sugar are also effective in fighting flu.