Re: Chicken soup good for colds and flu

[Guest guest]

supposing soup is good ...

then is there any indication why chicken soup should be better than other soup ?

[Guest guest]

no articles at pubmed about chicken soup threapy for influenza

[Guest guest]

It won't cure anything, of course, but it sure is nice to have some chicken soup when you're feeling lousy. How could it not be good for you? It's got all those good things in it. It is sometimes referred to as "Jewish penicillin" because it is common - or at least it was when I was young - among Jews to brew up a great pot of chicken soup whenever anyone got a cold or the flu. What a wonderful contribution to the welfare of humankind. I could eat a slew of it.

Do one thing every day that scares you.

Eleanor Roosevelt

From: <rumjal@...>Subject: [Flu] Chicken soup good for colds and fluFlu Date: Wednesday, December 17, 2008, 12:18 AM

Chicken soup really is good for colds and flu, UNMC researchers saysTell North Platte what you thinkby Vicky Cerino (University of Nebraska Medical Center) - 12/9/2008Though University of Nebraska Medical Center physician and researcher Rennard, M.D., is recognized around the world for hisexpertise in lung disease, it's his chicken soup scientific researchstudy that has gained the most attention.Rennard found that chicken soup contains a number of substances,including an anti-inflammatory mechanism, that might ease the symptomsof upper respiratory tract infections.A challenge outside the normal realm of scientific research, andcuriosity about the long-touted folk medicine, led Rennard to embarkon an off-beat study to see whether chicken soup may indeed havemedicinal value.Rennard is a Larson Professor of Medicine in the pulmonary andcritical care medicine section at UNMC.

For years, he watched his wifeBarbara cook her grandmother' s chicken soup recipe when a cold wasgoing around their family of 10. Known as "Grandma's Soup," the recipeincludes chicken, onions, sweet potatoes, parsnips, turnips, carrots,celery stems, parsley, salt and pepper."She told me the soup was good for colds," Dr. Rennard said. "I'veheard that a zillion times. Then I started to think, `Well, maybe ithas some anti-inflammatory value.' Everyone's heard this from theirmother in many cultures. No one seems to have a monopoly on theinsight of the value of chicken soup."The suspected benefits of chicken soup were reported centuries ago.The Egyptian Jewish physician and philosopher, Moshe ben Maimon,recommended chicken soup for respiratory tract symptoms in his 12thcentury writings which were, in turn, based on earlier Greek writings.But, there's little in the literature to explain how it

works.So in 1993, he challenged the age-old folk remedy by taking chickensoup from the kitchen to the laboratory. Three batches of soupprepared in the home of Dr. Rennard and studied in the laboratoryunder controlled conditions.For comparison purposes, commercial soups were obtained from a localsupermarket and prepared according to the directions on the label.Researchers collected neutrophils from blood donated by healthyvolunteers.The study's focus was to find out if the movement of neutrophils --the most common white cell in the blood that defends the body againstinfection -- would be blocked or reduced by chicken soup.Researchers suspect the reduction in movement of neutrophils mayreduce activity in the upper respiratory tract that can cause symptomsassociated with a cold.In the laboratory, UNMC scientists diluted the soup and subjected theneutrophils to several

variations of the soup, including vegetables,chicken and a combination of the ingredients. The team found themovement of neutrophils were reduced.Samples taken during the initial stages of the soup with chicken brothalone were not found effective in inhibiting neutrophil movement.Though researchers were not able to identify the exact ingredient oringredients in the soup that made it effective against fighting colds,they theorize it may be a combination of ingredients in the soup thatwork together to have beneficial effects."All vegetables and the soup had activity," Dr. Rennard said. "I thinkit's the concoction."Many of the store-bought soups had the same inhibitory effect.Researchers noted that "Grandma's soup" has several unusual features.It contains strained vegetables.Rennard noted, however, that the inhibitory activity was observed withseveral other recipes that

lack the particles from vegetables."Thus," he said, "while the identity of the biologically activematerials is unknown, it seems likely they are water-soluble orextractable. Pureed carrots or other vegetables are not recommended asa remedy, while chicken soup is.""A variety of soup preparations were evaluated and found to bevariably, but generally, able to inhibit neutrophil chemotaxis," hesaid. "The current study, therefore, presents evidence that chickensoup might have an anti-inflammatory activity, namely the inhibitionof neutrophil migration."The soup also may improve rehydration and nutrition in the body, hesaid, and the psychological and physical comfort soup provides mayalso have a placebo effect.He submitted a scientific abstract of the results of his study in1993, he said, mostly because of its amusement value. His abstract wasaccepted and he presented it to hundreds of

physicians and researchersduring a conference in San Francisco. Then in October 2000, his studywas published in CHEST, the journal of the American College of ChestPhysicians.Dr. Rennard's study has been featured more than 1,000 times in the media."When I'm gone, out of all the research I've done, I'll probably beremembered most for my research on chicken soup," Dr. Rennard said.UNMC is the only public health science center in the state. Throughtheir commitment to education, research, patient care and outreach,UNMC and its hospital partner, The Nebraska Medical Center, haveestablished themselves as one of the country's leading centers incancer, transplantation biology, bioterrorism preparedness,neurodegenerative diseases, cardiovascular diseases, genetics,biomedical technology and ophthalmology.UNMC's research funding from external sources now exceeds $82 millionannually and has

resulted in the creation of more than 2,400 skilledjobs in the state. UNMC's physician practice group, UNMC Physicians,includes 513 physicians in 50 specialties and subspecialties whopractice primarily in The Nebraska Medical Center. For more, go toUNMC's Web site at www.unmc.edu.http://www.northpla ttebulletin. com/index. asp?show= news & action= readStory & storyID=15659 & pageID=3

[Guest guest]

The scientists don't know for certain yet; but I think it has to do with the chicken and all the other good stuff in the soup. How they all react together isn't fully understood and may never be understood. In the meantime, there's some delicious soup to be enjoyed.

Do one thing every day that scares you.

Eleanor Roosevelt

From: sterten@... <sterten@...>Subject: Re: [Flu] Chicken soup good for colds and fluFlu Date: Wednesday, December 17, 2008, 9:41 PM

supposing soup is good ...

then is there any indication why chicken soup should be better than other soup ?

[Guest guest]

Even so, some nice homemade chicken soup just makes you feel better. It's good stuff. I love it.

Do one thing every day that scares you.

Eleanor Roosevelt

From: sterten@... <sterten@...>Subject: Re: [Flu] Chicken soup good for colds and fluFlu Date: Wednesday, December 17, 2008, 10:46 PM

no articles at pubmed about chicken soup threapy for influenza