Chicken Soup Helps Fight Colds

Adding Pepper May Help Clear Stuffy Nose

You might want to stock up on the chicken soup as we head into the heart of cold and flu season.

A study shows that chicken soup contains substances that can ease the symptoms of upper respiratory tract infections.

The study suggests that chicken soup helps fight colds by stopping the movement of neutrophils, which are white blood cells that eat up bacteria and cellular debris. These neutrophils are released in great numbers by viral infections like colds.

"What we showed was that chicken soup has a very mild effect at slowing the migration of one of these cells," said Dr. Stephen Rennard, professor of medicine at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

"Therefore, chicken soup may have a very mild anti-inflammatory action and this potentially could contribute to some of the so-called medicinal activities that people have attributed to chicken soup," Rennard said.

Adding pepper to chicken soup also can help to clear a stuffy nose, doctors say.

Doctors say that an average child gets six to eight colds per year. An average adult gets two to three.

Next time you have a cold, remember to get plenty of rest and drink a lot of fluids. But also remember to indulge yourself with a hot bowl of soothing soup.

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