Does chicken broth resist the cold? science responds

Since we are children, our parents or even our grandparents often prescribe some home remedies for colds.

They are many and varied, such as teaspoons of honey with lemon, various teas, garlic chews, and, most commonly, a dish of chicken soup.

Other than everyone’s culinary tastes, as we get older we can distrust these remedies, however, we often follow them into adulthood.

This is why it is so interesting to answer Is there any scientific evidence that it works coming chicken soup to treat a cold? We answer this question below.

home remedies

The general idea for anyone who follows a home remedy is that it strengthens our immune system.

When the virus enters our bodies, it encounters two defense systems: innate immune system, which attempts to eliminate invading cells; s adaptive system It attacks specific pathogens the body has already contacted and creates memory cells for new pathogens so that the body can fight them if they come back.

Both lifestyle habits and diet are known to affect the strength of our immune system. So, in theory, certain foods can help us overcome certain conditions.

However,Chicken broth Is it one of those foods?

Chicken broth against influenza

according to Charles BanghamMD, director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Imperial College London, said treatments such as chicken broth only help, and to a limited extent, in cases where patients are nutritionally deficient.

In other words, if you eat a relatively balanced diet and exercise regularly, it won’t help you at all.

Otherwise, people with vitamin or mineral deficiencies can do a little better.

“Only if you are missing a vital nutrient, such as vitamins, zinc or iron, it would be very beneficial to add that specific element. But if you are on a well-balanced diet, adding more of these does not make your immune system more efficient.”

Of course, chicken broth and other home remedies have it placebo effect تأثير It helps us feel better when we eat it.

Chicken broth as a placebo

If you were told since you were a kid that chicken broth would make you feel better when facing illness, it surely will.

Nor should we believe that the strength placebo effect تأثير It is small. Recent scientific research has found that placebos are effective in relieving many symptoms, including: the pain until the Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

So if you think that chicken broth will help you beat the common cold, it is very likely that the placebo effect will help you.

Recently implemented Experiment To see how the placebo effect worked in a group of people with colds. Chicken broth was not used, but rather an herbal remedy, but patients were found to feel better immediately after taking the remedy.

People who believed in this home cold remedy experienced shorter, milder colds than those who did not.

So, in a way, chicken broth is effective, as long as you believe in it, and you only have a mild cold.

It would be interesting to know what the science thinks of the soup of rats they eat in Zacatecas to treat hangovers.