Chicken soup good for colds and flu

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Chicken soup really is good for colds and flu, UNMC researchers says

Tell North Platte what you think

by Vicky Cerino (University of Nebraska Medical Center) - 12/9/2008

Though University of Nebraska Medical Center physician and researcher

Rennard, M.D., is recognized around the world for his

expertise in lung disease, it's his chicken soup scientific research

study 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 symptoms

of upper respiratory tract infections.

A challenge outside the normal realm of scientific research, and

curiosity about the long-touted folk medicine, led Rennard to embark

on an off-beat study to see whether chicken soup may indeed have

medicinal value.

Rennard is a Larson Professor of Medicine in the pulmonary and

critical care medicine section at UNMC. For years, he watched his wife

Barbara cook her grandmother's chicken soup recipe when a cold was

going around their family of 10. Known as " Grandma's Soup, " the recipe

includes 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've

heard that a zillion times. Then I started to think, `Well, maybe it

has some anti-inflammatory value.' Everyone's heard this from their

mother in many cultures. No one seems to have a monopoly on the

insight 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 12th

century 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 chicken

soup from the kitchen to the laboratory. Three batches of soup

prepared in the home of Dr. Rennard and studied in the laboratory

under controlled conditions.

For comparison purposes, commercial soups were obtained from a local

supermarket and prepared according to the directions on the label.

Researchers collected neutrophils from blood donated by healthy

volunteers.

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 against

infection -- would be blocked or reduced by chicken soup.

Researchers suspect the reduction in movement of neutrophils may

reduce activity in the upper respiratory tract that can cause symptoms

associated with a cold.

In the laboratory, UNMC scientists diluted the soup and subjected the

neutrophils to several variations of the soup, including vegetables,

chicken and a combination of the ingredients. The team found the

movement of neutrophils were reduced.

Samples taken during the initial stages of the soup with chicken broth

alone were not found effective in inhibiting neutrophil movement.

Though researchers were not able to identify the exact ingredient or

ingredients in the soup that made it effective against fighting colds,

they theorize it may be a combination of ingredients in the soup that

work together to have beneficial effects.

" All vegetables and the soup had activity, " Dr. Rennard said. " I think

it'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 with

several other recipes that lack the particles from vegetables.

" Thus, " he said, " while the identity of the biologically active

materials is unknown, it seems likely they are water-soluble or

extractable. Pureed carrots or other vegetables are not recommended as

a remedy, while chicken soup is. "

" A variety of soup preparations were evaluated and found to be

variably, but generally, able to inhibit neutrophil chemotaxis, " he

said. " The current study, therefore, presents evidence that chicken

soup might have an anti-inflammatory activity, namely the inhibition

of neutrophil migration. "

The soup also may improve rehydration and nutrition in the body, he

said, and the psychological and physical comfort soup provides may

also have a placebo effect.

He submitted a scientific abstract of the results of his study in

1993, he said, mostly because of its amusement value. His abstract was

accepted and he presented it to hundreds of physicians and researchers

during a conference in San Francisco. Then in October 2000, his study

was published in CHEST, the journal of the American College of Chest

Physicians.

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 be

remembered most for my research on chicken soup, " Dr. Rennard said.

UNMC is the only public health science center in the state. Through

their commitment to education, research, patient care and outreach,

UNMC and its hospital partner, The Nebraska Medical Center, have

established themselves as one of the country's leading centers in

cancer, transplantation biology, bioterrorism preparedness,

neurodegenerative diseases, cardiovascular diseases, genetics,

biomedical technology and ophthalmology.

UNMC's research funding from external sources now exceeds $82 million

annually and has resulted in the creation of more than 2,400 skilled

jobs in the state. UNMC's physician practice group, UNMC Physicians,

includes 513 physicians in 50 specialties and subspecialties who

practice primarily in The Nebraska Medical Center. For more, go to

UNMC's Web site at www.unmc.edu.

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