Healing Chicken Soup.....................................
We have all heard that chicken soup is good for the sick for hundreds of years. Can it really be true? Chicken soup is a favorite 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. See Chicken Noodle Soup Recipes below along with the reasons why it is so good for us.
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The reasons why Chicken soup is healing
- Soup has 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).
- steam is a real benefit. Sipping the hot soup and breathing in the steam helps clear up congestion. This can also be said for many hot soups.
- Spices that are often added to chicken soup, such as garlic and pepper (all ancient treatments for respiratory diseases), work the same way as modern cough medicines, thinning mucus and making breathing easier.
- chicken soup contains drug-like agents similar to those in modern cold medicines. For example, an amino acid released from chicken during cooking chemically resembles the drug acetylcysteine, prescribed for bronchitis and other respiratory problems.
- Chicken Soup puts needed fluids back into the body.
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Curative properties
According to food historians chicken soup was prescribed as a cure for the common cold in Ancient Egypt. The 10th century Persian physician Avicenna referred to the curative powers of chicken soup in his writings. In the 12th century the Jewish sage Maimonides wrote that chicken soup “has virtue in rectifying corrupted humours”, and recommended it as nutrition for convalescents; Maimonides also particularly recommended chicken soup for people suffering from hemorrhoids and the early stages of leprosy.
Modern research conducted by Dr. Stephen Rennard, professor of pulmonary and critical care medicine, and his colleagues at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha suggests that there might be some scientific basis for the belief in the curative powers of chicken soup. They found that the particular blend of nutrients and vitamins in traditional chicken soup can slow the activity of certain white blood cells. This may have an anti-inflammatory effect that could hypothetically lead to temporary ease from symptoms of illness. Their research was published in 2000 in the scientific journal Chest. This was not, however, an in vivo clinical trial, and did not demonstrate that chicken soup was the best foodstuff for this purpose.
Because it is simple to prepare, relatively cheap, nutritious, and easily digested, chicken soup is a good food for winter convalescents. Sipping warm soup can also clear the sinuses because of the steam ventilating into the nasal passages, serving as a natural decongestant, which also relieves cold and flu symptoms. Last, but not least, chicken soup can be beneficial due to the placebo effect of comfort foods.
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Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe
Healing Directions
Stew your chicken first:
Place a 3 to 4 lb. chicken in a 5-6 qt. pan and cover with water.
Add 3 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar.
Cook for 1/2 hour over medium heat
until chicken is done and falls off the bone.
Remove bones and chicken from the pot to cool.
Keep the broth in the pot and set to simmer.
Add to simmering broth:
2 large onion diced
3 celery ribs diced (seeds are good too)
3 carrots diced
1/2 stick of butter
3 cloves of chopped garlic
juice of 1/2 a lemon
salt & pepper
If you want a really stronge /rich flavor:
Nows the time to add...
Add 3 or4 bouillon cubes
or 1 can of chicken stock.
(Note: if you are cooking this for someone who is already sick.... their taste buds may not be up to par and may need the soup to be stronger in flavor so they can taste it better.) Getting them to eat it is the key to getting well. It may be to strong for you but just right for them. You can always add water to your own bowl if it's to strong for you personally.
Cut chicken up into large chunks.
Replace chicken back into simmering broth.
Add 1 cup of large diced potatoes
Cover with water.
Cook for another 30 minutes on medium heat.
Last 10 minutes of cooking:
Important Healing Herbs
Add 1 bunch of chopped parsley to soup.
If you have tyme, add 1/2 teaspoon.
If you have sage, add 1/2 teaspoon.
If you have basil, add 1/2 teaspoon.
pinch of poultry seasoning
Add 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper!!
Cook for 10 more minutes
2rd Day: Left overs
Re-warm the left over Chicken Soup
Add 4 ounces of egg noodles to the soup.
1 can of broth
1 cup of water
It's now Chicken Noodle Soup!
The Chicken Noodle Soup
will taste the best on this 2nd day!
3rd Day: Left overs
Note: Changing the soup slightly each day will add variety to the soup so it doesn't seem so boreing while keeping the regiment of someone eating it. This soup is packed full of vitamins and minerals so the more they are willing to eat, the better. If you go for a 3rd day, try adding a can of "Cream of celery soup" to thicken it up and add a new feeling in the mouth.
And if you have been feeling under the weather....
by now you should be feeling the effects of healing soup.
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The ingredients
- Chicken contains an amino acid called cysteine, a substance released when you make the soup. This amino acid is similar to the drug acetylcysteine, which is prescribed by doctors to patients with bronchitis. It thins the mucus in the lungs, making it easier to cough out.
- Onions: a regular in chicken soup- contains quercetin, a powerful anti-oxidant that is also a natural anti-histamine, and anti-inflammatory. Onion are a strong antibacterial agent.
- Garlic: has phytochemicals that are helpful in reducing cancer risk and boosting the immune system. The herb (yes it is considered a herb or veggie) is beneficial to the bodys overall maitenance. It is rich in protein; vitamins A, B-1 and C; essential minerals including calcium, magnesium, potassium, iron and selenium. Plus it contains 17 different amino acids. Increases energy and endurance. Garlic gives chicken soup a great flavor as well. ---- Bible: God through Jesus Christ our Lord (John 1:3, Col. 1:16) created garlic for us not only to enjoy as a flavor in our cooked foods, but also to use as a medicine.
- Cayenne pepper sprinkled in food, broth or tea also promotes sweating to break a fever. Cayenne acts as a catalyst, carrying all other herbs and supplements quickly to the place in the body where they are needed and increasing their effectiveness. It is also high in vitamin C and useful in the treatment of colds, sinus problems and respiratory ailments.
- A greater variety of vegetables means a greater mix of nutrients and phytochemicals.
- Carrots, one of the routine vegetable ingredients found in chicken soup, are the best natural source of beta-carotene. The body takes that beta-carotene and converts it to vitamin A. Vitamin A helps prevent and fight off infections by enhancing the actions of white blood cells that destroy harmful bacteria and viruses.
- Herb/Parsley- Packed with nutrients, parsley (Petroselinum sativum) is a great source of dietary calcium, iron, vitamin C, and vitamin A, as well as beta-carotene, and folic acids. Parsley has proved itself a potent medicinal herb. It has cancer-fighting volatile oil components including myristicin, limonene, eugenol, and alpha-thujene. Parsley is also rich in flavonoids with powerful anti-oxidant properties including apiin, apigenin, crisoeriol, and luteolin. It is known to both detoxify and soothe the kidneys. Parsley leaves can be a gentle treatment for kidney problems, bladder infections, and to reduce mucus in the first stages of a cold and influenza. A good chicken soup recipe will usually have 1 "bunch" of parsley as an ingredient.
- Celery seed: Celery seed helps ease urinary tract infections, as it's an excellent antiseptic. It's also anti-inflammatory, relieving arthritis and gout. An excellent diuretic, it aids digestion and even alleviates gas. The Celery stalk itself is high in minerals and is a significant source for magnesium.
- Thyme/herb: Thyme heals all colds. It's an effective expectorant, as well as an antiseptic. It can help clear congestion, viral infections, or a dry, hacking cough.
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The publisher does not accept any responsibility for the accuracy of the information or the consequences arising from the application, use, or misuse of any of the information contained herein, including any injury and/or damage to any person or property as a matter of product liability, negligence, or otherwise. No warranty, expressed or implied, is made in regard to the contents of this material. No claims or endorsements are made for any drugs or compounds currently marketed or in investigative use. This material is not intended as a guide to self-medication. The reader is advised to discuss the information provided here with a doctor, pharmacist, nurse, or other authorized healthcare practitioner and to check product information (including package inserts) regarding dosage, precautions, warnings, interactions, and contraindications before administering any drug, herb, or supplement discussed herein.
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September is National Chicken Month
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