Chicken Noodle Soup
How Can Health Food Taste so Good?
How to Make Healthy Foods Like Chicken Soup
All those generations of grandmothers knew something when they fed their ailing families hot chicken soup, it really is good for you! Studies have shown that chicken soup contains many ingredients that can help your immune system fight off colds and flu. Who knew that chicken soup was really a healthy food? Our mothers and grandmothers that is who!
Flu and the Role of Chicken Soup
Chicken soup was proven to be anti-inflammatory, which may be the reason it is so effective at soothing sore throats and helping you feel better when you are under the weather. In a study done by Dr. Stephen Rennard of the University of Nebraska Medical Center, tests showed that chicken soup has more than a mere placebo effect.
Chicken soup also helped inhibit the movement of neutrophils. These are white blood cells that eat bacteria and debris from your body's cells that are released during infections. Active neutrophils stimulate the production of mucous, causing the traditional stuffy nose and cough associated with respiratory infections. All the common ingredients of chicken soup, including the chicken and vegetables such as onions, carrots, celery, parsley, parsnips, garlic, turnips, and sweet potato were found to be effective in helping this effect.
Chicken Soup Actually Helps Clear Your Nose
Researchers at Mount Sinai in Miami discovered that chicken soup actually helped move the mucus in the noses of stuffed up volunteers better than cold water and even hot water. While the hot water did help a little bit, the chicken soup not only increased the amount of air flow through the noses of the volunteers, it helped the cilia (tiny hairs inside the nose) to function better.
The heat and steam from chicken soup may help to relieve clogged nasal passages at the same time. If you add garlic to the soup as it is cooking, and add a sprinkle of cayenne pepper, you will boost the nasal clearing effects the soup already provides.
Chicken Soup Not Your Boring Old Health Food
Since health food often has a negative connotation for many people as being bland or bad tasting, chicken soup is one health food everyone can enjoy. The flavorful broth, chicken, and vegetables can make a filling meal even to someone who is experiencing little appetite due to illness. It also helps with hydration while stimulating the appetite.
Chicken soup is such a good choice for healthy eating that the Wuhan Zoo in China has even been feeding large bowlfuls of the slow-cooked soup to their pandas. The zookeepers decided to include chicken soup in the bears' diet to boost their immune system and relieve stress from large amounts of visitors during the holiday week.
What makes chicken soup one of these healthy foods it is the creation of the stock. The stock, or broth, is created by simmering the bones, meat, and skin of the animal slowly with vegetables like carrots, celery, and onions. These finished stocks are very healthy; they contain minerals, vitamins, and electrolytes in a form that the body easily assimilates. Gelatin is a part of the animal that is an important part of any good stock. It contains amino acids and is helpful for building muscles, cartilage, tendons, and connective tissues, as well as fueling the metabolism. It is easy to digest even for those who are very ill.
