In different cultural traditions, there is a way of treating colds with soup based on chicken broth. Doctors confirm that chicken soup really can be used for the symptomatic treatment of respiratory diseases. But experts cannot really understand why this is happening.
In 2000, the scientific Journal of the American College of Chest Physicians published an article, which provided medical calculations confirming the healing power of chicken broth.
The study authors conclude that properly cooked chicken soup really helps reduce the inflammation of the upper respiratory tract.
After 14 years, doctors checked how true this statement is. Within the walls of the University of Nebraska, an experiment was conducted to prove or disprove the healing power of chicken soup.
The experts set the task to check how the traditional chicken soup acted on neutrophils – a subspecies of white blood cells that are activated in the body in case of a cold. In case of SARS, neutrophils actively migrate to the site of injury and cause inflammation – in this case the cells cause the characteristic unpleasant symptoms that accompany a cold as a side effect.
Laboratory experiments have showed that chicken soup inhibits neutrophil activity. As a result, they come to the source of infection (the upper respiratory tract) in smaller numbers, the inflammation subsides, and the patient feels relieved. According to the researchers, the more nourishing soup is, the better it copes with this problem.
It remains a mystery to scientists why this is happening. The leading specialist of the project, professor Stephen Rennard, believes that chicken soup contains the ingredient, which is yet unknown to science.
Conventional food products contain a lot of bioactive elements. Professor Rennard agrees to the supposition that the world is full of a variety of substances that can heal a person, but we do not know anything about them. Curiously, the testing of different brands of canned chicken soup from the stores in comparison with homemade soup showed that shop versions and home broth improved the health of people with colds equally effectively.
