Chicken Soup for the flu

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Chicken Soup for the Flu Shot Soul Health Sciences Institute e-Alert October 21, 2004**************************************************************We hope you enjoy this free e-letter from the Health Sciences Institute e-Alert. You have received this e-mail because you have either signed up for our e-letter through a promotion on an affiliate website, subscribed to one of Agora Health's print newsletters,or visited our website and signed up there. If you're an existing subscriber to the e-Alert, you should note it is now being sent from a different server. Please make sure to add this new address to your "friends" list or to "whitelist" it if necessary. If you wish to permanently remove yourself from this mailing list, follow the instructions at the bottom of this page.**************************************************************Dear Reader,It's always something. Or when it comes to the flu vaccine it seems that way. Every year there's a new wrinkle; a feared pandemic, a run on doctors' offices that create shortages, or - as is the case this year - a vaccine manufacturer is shut down, creating scarce supplies, thefts of vaccine caches, black market sales, etc. Always something. As Moshe ben Maimon might say: It's meshuggah. Ben Maimon was a 12th century Jewish philosopher and physician who recommend this treatment for influenza and colds: chicken soup. As the story goes, Moshe drew on classical Greek medicine to support his recommendation, but I'll bet you a dollar he actually picked it from his mom. I was reminded of Moshe's soup cure when I came across an Associated Press item about a flu vaccine clinic offered in Fergus Falls, Minnesota. Because of the nationwide vaccine shortage, the clinic received no supply of the vaccine at all. So when people came by to get a flu shot, they were given a can of chicken soup and a box of tissues instead. When Kris Ehresmann, the head of Minnesota's immunization program, heard about the soup giveaway, with some amusement she told the AP that it was, "better than nothing." Better than nothing, indeed. In fact, according to one study, chicken soup is full of good nutrition and even has natural anti-inflammatory properties. That's much more than I can say for the flu vaccine. ------------------------------------------------------------Grandma's penicillin ------------------------------------------------------------ Rennard, M.D., is a researcher at the University of Nebraska where he studies the defense mechanisms of the lung. One day, while enjoying his wife's homemade chicken soup, he wondered if something in the soup might have an anti-inflammatory effect on the respiratory viral infections responsible for colds and the flu. From a recipe called "Grandma's Soup," Dr. Rennard had his wife prepare several batches for laboratory tests to examine the soup's effect on neutrophils; white blood cells that stimulate mucous release. As reported in a 2000 issue of the medical journal Chest, Dr. Rennard and his team found that the ingredients of the soup clearly inhibited the movement of neutrophils. In other words, chicken soup may actually trigger a cold and flu-fighting reaction in the body. But it doesn't end with neutrophils inhibition. Many chicken soup recipes call for exactly what a sick person needs: ingredients that are nutrient-rich, such as onions, carrots, celery, parsley, sweet potatoes, parsnips and turnips (all of which were included in Grandma's Soup). In an interview with Reuters, Dr. Rennard also acknowledged that the steam from the warm soup may help soothe inflamed sinuses. And when someone lovingly prepares the soup for you - a doting Grandma, for instance - the care itself may provide a therapeutic psychological boost that promotes healing. ------------------------------------------------------------Spice it up ------------------------------------------------------------Dr. Rennard's Grandma's Soup recipe calls for salting and peppering to taste, which is good advice. Sodium is an essential electrolyte that promotes hydration. That's not to say that salt should be shoveled in, but adding some salt is a plus, unless your doctor has instructed you to avoid it. And don't hold back on the pepper either. Natural medical physician Dr. ph Mercola suggests that plenty of pepper will help thin respiratory mucus when fluids in the mouth and throat are stimulated. He adds that the main ingredient of chicken soup - that is, of course, chicken - contains cysteine; an amino acid that also thins mucus. So if you drop by a clinic to get a flu shot and receive soup instead, don't think you're getting the lesser of two treatments. With a large pot of chicken soup simmering on the stove, you just might have your healthiest flu season ever.

Joan, PACol. Potter's Cairn Rescue May you have a song in your heart, a smile on your lips and nothing but joy in your fingers.