Soups That Heal!

Chicken soup

Chicken soup is a favourite healing soup all over the world. It has often been called Jewish penicillin and scientists have spent time and money examining the actions of chicken soup on colds and flu. It’s no surprise that they’ve found evidence of the way chicken soup combats the symptoms of a cold. Dr Stephen Rennard, a US pulmonary specialist, tested various chicken soups, from a traditional, home made soup, to a number of commercial varieties, in the laboratory. He found that the soups had anti-inflammatory properties that helped sore throats and helped stop the movement of neutrophils (white blood cells that encourage the flow of mucus that accumulates in the lungs and nose). So grandmother was right all along!

No wonder chicken soup is a fabled remedy for colds: It contains druglike agents similar to those in modern cold medicines, says Irwin Ziment, M.D., pulmonary specialist and professor at the UCLA School of Medicine. For example, cysteine, an amino acid released from chicken in cooking, chemically resembles the drug acetylcysteine, prescribed for bronchitis and other respiratory problems. Pungent ingredients often added to chicken soup, such as garlic, cayenne pepper and curry spices, all are ancient treatments for respiratory diseases. They work the same way as expectorant drugs and cough medicines, thinning mucus and making breathing easier. The more garlic and hot spices added to chicken soup, Ziment says, the better the soup will be at clearing your lungs.

USA Weekend

Tomato soup

Our family favourite for colds was tomato soup. Of course it helps to come from a tomato growing region - or in your back yard or patio garden. Made with a base of chicken stock, add tomatoes, onions, garlic and basil or oregano, all home grown. The soup is rich, thick and savoury. It’s still one of my favourite soups today. And what a glorious soup it is too. A wonderful sight as it comes to the table with a sprinkling of fresh oregano over the top, looking like chips of emerald against the ruby colour of the tomatoes. Truly, it’s a feast for the eyes as well as the mouth.

The tomatoes in my soup are full of lycopene and vitamin C, both are antioxidants. Onions and garlic are very common ingredients in soup and are well known for their anti-bacterial and anti-viral effects. Onions contain quercetin, a formidable antioxidant with wide-ranging activity. Studies show that quercetin is anti-cancer, anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory, anti-viral and anti-bacterial. Garlic is very active against bacteria, so active that the blood of garlic eaters can kill bacteria. It helps lower blood pressure, prevent blood clots, reduce atherosclerotic buildup, is active against yeasts, prevents cancer, removes heavy metals such as lead and mercury from the body, has anti-oxidant properties and is a source of selenium. The primary ingredients in Oregano, thymol and carvacrol (which are also found in thyme), help loosen phlegm in the lungs and relieve spasms in the bronchial passages. Many commercial cough remedies, including cough drops and skin rubs such as Vicks VapoRub, contain thymol.
No wonder it did us good!