Yes, Chicken Noodle Soup is a Cold Remedy



Bowl of Love



We've heard it, seen it and experienced it for years.  Growing up feeling yucky with a cold or flu, your mom or grandmother always produced a hot, steaming bowl of love called chicken noodle soup.  Yes, the attention and pampering help too.  However, it was the soup that was the foundation of a healthy recovery plan. 

So years later the scientist confirmed what we already knew.

A report from CNN states: "Chicken soup -- as made by grandma -- contains several ingredients that affect the body's immune system, a team at the University of Nebraska Medical Center found. Specifically, it has anti-inflammatory properties that could explain why it soothes sore throats and eases the misery of colds and flu, Dr. Stephen Rennard and colleagues said Monday. "Chicken soup may contain a number of substances with beneficial medicinal activity," the researchers wrote in their report, published in the journal Chest. "

They found that chicken soup and many of its ingredients helped stop the movement of neutrophils -- white blood cells that eat up bacteria and cellular debris and which are released in great numbers by viral infections like colds. Neutrophil activity can stimulate the release of mucous, which may be the cause of the coughs and stuffy nose caused by upper respiratory infections such as colds.

Just to be clear, we're not really talking about that canned stuff by the same name with the red and white label.  The sodium content of that stuff would override all the great healing affects of chicken noodle soup.

So the folks at Livestrong http://www.livestrong.com/article/170799-healthy-homemade-chicken-noodle-soup/ really hit the mark when they focused on the ingredients of a good bowl of soup.

Ingredients

I love this medicine



The most healthy soup starts with 100 percent organic USDA certified chicken, meaning the chicken was raised in a humane environment, fed an appropriate organic diet, received no hormones or antibiotics and is preservative free.

Load your soup up with organic vegetables like carrots, onions, celery and leeks and simmer them in water or a low-sodium chicken broth.

Experiment with adding fresh or dried herbs based on your individual tastes.

I also suggest using "No Yolk" noodles or whole wheat noodles.

Ok, you have your chicken, veggies, herbs and you're ready to go.

Stove Top vs. Crock Pot? I recommend stove top on medium heat.  Crock pot can reduce everything to a mushy consistency.  Needless to say do not use pressure cooking.  It's super fast but fails to produce adequate broth and will reduce any pasta to paste.  The cooking time on the stove can be reduced on the stove by cutting the chicken into small parts, adding pre-cut vegetables from the grocery store (or your cutting board), putting them in a pan with cooked chicken in water or broth and simmering for an hour or so until the vegetables are the desired texture, adding noodles for the last 15 minutes. But slowly cooking a whole chicken using fragrant herbs and fresh vegetables allows the essence of each food to be released and merge, resulting in a rich, satisfying flavor.

Tips from Livestrong:
"If you have the flu, adding fresh or ground ginger to your soup can help settle your stomach and relieve nausea. Serving your soup with a few healthy crackers can also calm your stomach. To remove excess fat from your soup, chill it overnight in the refrigerator and all the fat will congeal at the top so you can scoop it out."