Whenever my husband is sick, he always opens a can of chicken noodle soup. His mom served it to him whenever he stayed home from school with a cold as a kid and he insists it soothes his aches and pains and helps clear his nose. He uses the same strategy with our two kids when they?re sick, and it seems to work.
?Chicken soup has value in that it?s a fluid, which helps you stay hydrated, and it has electrolytes in it, and these are good things for people who are sick,? says Daniel Flanders, a paediatrician in Toronto.
Chicken noodle soup has been used as a remedy for centuries, and there is some science to back up the feel-good factor. In a study published in the medical journal Chest in 2000, researchers found that the combination of certain ingredients, like vegetables and fats, had an anti-inflammatory effect that may help alleviate symptoms of an upper respiratory infection.
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9 comforting chicken soup recipesIn another study published in Chest way back in 1978, researchers found that hot chicken soup increased the flow of mucus in the nasal passages better than hot water. While hot-water vapours do help relieve congestion, the study concluded that chicken soup had an additional mechanism that increased the benefit, either through the body?s...