Flu? Broth or soup, and off you go, as if it could cure all the ills of the world. Maybe not all the ills, but apparently, according to recent research, they can actually lend a tangible helping hand against colds and sore throats. It seems, in fact, that the vegetables, herbs, and meat used to prepare these dishes help you heal faster.
Chicken, Vegetables and Herbs as Natural Remedies
It may seem strange, because it's considered more of a popular belief related to the consequence of a person's love for us, rather than a real scientific fact. Yet, a group of researchers from the University of Scotland has demonstrated – through a systematic review published in Nutrients – that eating soup or broth can actually help you recover more quickly. To conduct the research, they scoured large biomedical research databases and identified four studies that analyzed the relationship between soup consumption and a reduction in flu symptoms. The studies analyzed, in total, involved approximately 342 people, and the soups consumed were mostly based on chicken, vegetables, and herbs.
Several studies have shown that those who consumed broths and soups experienced less severe symptoms such as cough, nasal congestion, or sore throat than those who didn't. In fact, one study observed faster recovery, up to two and a half days earlier, for those who consumed this type of food. A surprising anti-inflammatory effect was also noted : in some cases, soup consumption led to a decrease in key inflammatory markers such as IL-6 and TNF-alpha.
The Perfect Mix Against Colds and Flu
How these dishes promote healing is still unclear. According to the team of experts, the beneficial effects on our body depend on a combination of different factors, such as hydration and warmth, which relieve congestion and discomfort; nutrients and proteins in meat, on the other hand, can support the immune system, while vegetables and herbs provide important anti-inflammatory compounds. Therefore, thanks to this mix of benefits, soups, broths, and broths can truly help reduce the symptoms of flu and colds and slightly shorten the course of the infection.
Research Limits
As always, when discussing scientific research, it's best to exercise a certain amount of caution, because, while reliable, it can't always be generalized. First, as the scientists themselves emphasize, the studies included are few and varied, and based on a relatively small sample. Furthermore, it wasn't possible to analyze which specific ingredients in the soup provided which benefits. Despite this, the research was conducted using rigorous methods and yielded very interesting results, which merit further study and investigation.
;Resize,width=767;)
