Souped-up flu fighter

Chicken soup could help cold sufferers

Good old-fashioned chicken soup - like your granny used to make - could have hidden powers to help cold and flu sufferers.

According to a chest specialist from Nebraska, US, the broth has anti-inflammatory powers which could stem the flow of mucus that accumulates in the lungs and nasal passages.

Of course, if you know somebody prepared soup for you by hand, that might have an effect

Dr Stephen Rennard

Writing in the medical journal Chest, Dr Stephen Rennard, said that he had always found that his grandmother's chicken soup - made in traditional Jewish style complete with matzo dumplings - had been helpful during bouts of illness.

He decided to run laboratory tests not only on his family's own recipe, but on 13 different commercial chicken soup brands.

They found that many of the varied ingredients of the soups helped to stop the movement of white blood cells called neutrophils, which are a key body response to the challenge of viral infections.

These cells help the body consume bacterial and cell debris, and are thought to stimulate the release of mucus, one of the most unpleasant aspects of a bout of flu or a cold.

Dr Rennard told Reuters: "These tests were in the laboratory and it doesn't test chicken soup clinically in colds.

"All the ingredients were found to be inhibitory, including the boiled extract of chicken alone.

"About a third of them were more active than my grandma's soup," he said, although he refused to name the most effective brands.

Vegetarians need not despair entirely - some effect was noted from vegetable soup.

Inflammation

There is a suggestion that these soups may be able to dampen down inflammatory action which makes throats sore.

Other doctors have theorised that steam from the soup, or the fat it contains, might be able to soothe.

Dr Rennard added: "Of course, if you know somebody prepared soup for you by hand, that might have an effect."

Plenty of other substances have been touted as possible cold "cures", with everything from zinc to garlic through vitamin C recommended to either ease symptoms or shorten the amount of time spent feeling unwell.

Recent drug advances, such as Relenza, seem to be able to shorten the length of the average flu attack, although only vaccination can completely prevent an attack by a particular strain of the virus.