It's True: Chicken Soup Fights the Flu

This year's flu season has hit epidemic levels. According the Center for Disease Control, 7.3 percent of the country has come down with the bug, and it doesn't look like we're out of the sickhouse yet.

The speed of this year's flu "has been pretty much unparalleled," John Hick, an emergency physician in Minneapolis told USA Today last week. "My general sense is that we have not peaked. We've probably got a few weeks to go on this."

While we can repeat the rounds of obsessive hand washing, steering clear of sickies and even wearing surgical masks, there's no sure fire way to escape the flu. And once you've got it, it can take up to three weeks to get better.

But, you can speed that up by eating. Good food can give your immune system a much needed jolt, and the most beneficial is a bowl of chicken soup.

Lovingly known as Jewish Pennicillin, chicken soup has been hailed as a cure-all thoughout history. Greek medics used to prescribe the broth, and the Egyptian physician and philosopher Moshe ben Maimonides wrote volumes on it's flu fighting abilities in the 12th century.

Today, science has started to back what these ancient healers have known for centuries. Research shows chicken soup actually has a mild medicinal effect. The heat, salt and hydation work to inhibit inflammation of cells in the nasal passage, reducing stuffy symptoms. The soup has also been found to root out and kill virus-carrying cells, while stoping the growth of new ones.

Another extra benefit of chicken soup is the food itself. When you're barely able to get out of bed for a new box of tissues, eatting anything can be a challenge. But, if you get down some of the lean, protein-rich chicken and nutritious veg, you'll give your body the energy it needs to do battle with the bug.

So, if you fall ill this season, heat up a cup of good ol' chicken soup. Any brand will do, but if you want to make the same soup scientists used to prove it's flu fighing power, try Grandma's Chicken Soup Recipe from the University of Nebraska Medical Center's own research team.


Grandma's Chicken Soup Recipe:

1 5- to 6-pound stewing hen or baking chicken
1 package of chicken wings
3 large onions
1 large sweet potato
3 parsnips
2 turnips
11 to 12 large carrots
5 to 6 celery stems
1 bunch of parsley
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Clean the chicken, put it in a large pot and cover it with cold water. Bring the water to boil.
2. Add the chicken wings, onions, sweet potato, parsnips, turnips and carrots. Boil about 1 and a half hours. Remove fat from the surface as it accumulates.
3. Add the parsley and celery. Cook the mixture about 45 min. longer.
4. Remove the chicken. The chicken is not used further for the soup. (The meat makes excellent chicken parmesan.)
5. Put the vegetables in a food processor until they are chopped fine or pass through a strainer. Both were performed in the present study.
6. Add salt and pepper to taste.