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.

McDonalds sales driven by Dollar Menu

I read recently that sales at McDonald's blew away analyst expectations this winter with the help of $1 meals. Apparently, Micky D's was suffering from a "rare decline" in November. The company then beefed up its Dollar Menu promos with "renewed emphasis on low-priced menu options, such as $1 Sausage McMuffins and coffee."

It's fast, it's easy, and it costs $1. It was a genius way for McDonalds to boost their sales. But, because I've sworn off fast food forever (or, at least until I'm stuck at a highway service station with a massive case of the munchies!), I decided investigate what other foods I could buy with just a buck.

Grabbing my single George Washington, I stepped out into the big city to find a healthy meal for a dollar.

At my first stop - the usual lunch cafe - there was actually nothing available for a single dollar. Yogurt, a power bar, even a bag of chips was too expensive! I had to fight the hunger pangs and move on.

At another cafe, I discovered that the lack of $1 items is compounded by a hierarchy in options. The average assortment of fruit goes for $1 a piece. That is, if you can survive a workday on a Red Delicious. Surprisingly, at the same cafe, a 1.5 inch slice of Stromboli stuffed with salami and cheese, also goes for a dollar.

Across the street at the local news shop, a cup of coffee costs 99 cents. But, so does a slice from the pizza guy next door. In New York City, where every corner has a pizzeria, my stomach was beginning to fight harder than my one dollar mission. Then, I stepped into a nondescript deli shop and was greeted by the unthinkable: a basket of hard boiled eggs.

"They're fifty cents," the cashier said as I stared hungrily. "Two for a dollar."

Here, at the corner store, I had found a healthy, protein packed meal that could tide me over for a good few hours.

I bought two, went back to work, and felt good about my Dollar Meal Quest. If you want to find a fast food alternative on a $1 budget, you have to look for it. It will take work, but it's out there. With talk of the fiscal cliff, rising taxes, and a soaring obeisty rate, maybe menus everywhere will start to jump on the dollar deal. If it worked for McDonald's, it can work for the little, healthier guy too.

Educated Eating: FLOTUS in the Lunchroom

More fruit and veg, less salty, fatty foods, wholegrain options and meat alternatives: sounds exactly like my new diet mandates. But, this list isn't what's on the menu in my kitchen, it's what's revolutionizing American cafeteria foods.

That's right. Pizza, burgers, chicken fingers and fries are no longer the school dining staple. And hey, whose staple are these foods? I always thought that kind of eating was for every once in a while - or when I'm suffering an epic hangover, which I'm pretty certain pre-12th graders aren't (legally).

And First Lady Michelle Obama (FLOTUS), thinks the same way. As part of her lunchroom 'Let's Move!' campaign to curb childhood obesity, she started at the one place every American kid eats at least one meal - school.

The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 bases food fixes on medical and scientific research showing the startlingly upward trend in childhood obesity. Basically, it's a no-nonsense approach to providing a healthy, well-rounded meal in the middle of a child's day. The only problem - she didn't ask the kids' permission. And they aren't happy.

Turns out they have no interest in getting the maximum benefit out of their school lunches. They just want to eat! Leading their hungry voices is a group of Kansas high schoolers who just released their grips on the hugely viral "We are Hungry" video. 

The "We are Young" parody is catchy, pretty well produced, and I'd venture to say a bit tongue in cheek. But the video has become fodder for critics blasting the FLOTUS' lunchroom plan. In particular, the 850 calorie limit to a 9-12th grader's lunch option.

"Think of a high-school boy who works out at least three hours a day, not including farm work," said an employee from said Kansas high school. 

Okay, let's do that. His lunch is 850 calories, and I'd think his breakfast and dinner are also in that ballpark. That puts him upwards of 2500 calories a day, not including the odd snack or - gasp! - soda. So, he's probably fine, and sporting a pretty tight six-pack at that. Considering he's in a state where obesity rates are set to hit 62% by 2030, I'd say that high school kid is doing pretty well for himself. What's the problem? 

Well, the problem is the same here as it is with any revolution. Kids miss having their say in the lunchroom. School can be a monotonous, even painful experience for adolescents, and their only escape each day is at lunch. I remember my own cafeteria days, and my go-to lunch staple: a six pack of Entenmann's powdered sugar donuts. Ahhh, that sweet, sugary escape!

But that brings me to another hugely important topic that seems to be gobbled up in the lunchroom debate: eating disorders. I'd binge on my the donuts, then purge for the rest of the day, through swim practice, show choir, and homework. It was cool to starve when I was in high school, and not surprisingly. Anorexia is the third most common illness among adolescents. 

Whether it's childhood obesity, or eating disorders, the cure begins with education. The FLOTUS' efforts - and the controversy it stirs up - will at least get people learning more about what eating healthy is all about. 

Now, if only she could just tackle that damn cafeteria table pecking order thing, the world would be a better place.