Chicken Soup for the Crappy-Feeling Soul

Originally posted Sept. 22, 2005

That's right...my not feeling well the other day has translated into a full-on sickness. I am deathly ill. I am Cameron from "Ferris Bueller's Day Off." I am...well, you get the idea. I don't feel good.

I stayed home from work yesterday in an effort to baby and pamper this thing out of my system, but it's taken a firm hold. My head feels like a bowling ball on a toothpick. Thank you, newsroom, for passing on this ever-so-enjoyable plague. Right back at ya.

I've been inundating myself with chicken soup, which got me to thinking about having heard somewhere that chicken soup has medicinal properties. (Although I gotta say that Campbell's out of the can has more SALT properties than anything else, and out of the microwaveable to-go cup it's good, but leaves the noodles al dente and clogged at the bottom. Not that I mind a sudden glut of noodles...mmm.)

So I googled chicken soup, and after wading through the five million Chicken Soup for the Chiropractor's Soul, ...For the Prisoner's Soul, ...For My Aunt's Cousin's Dog's Soul, etc., entries, I finally found one that talked about the famed healing properties of chicken soup.

Apparently, Dr. Stephan Rennard, a pulmonary medicine specialist, concluded in a study that chicken soup inhibits inflammation of the cells in the nasal passage, reducing the symptoms of a cold. In the same article another doctor points out that any hot soup promotes mucus secretions that "soothe sore throats and coughs, and trap bacteria."

Other sites claim the soup contains an amino acid similar to a drug for respiratory infections. No one really knows why chicken soup has such a reputation when it comes to treating illness, but many say it may be something as simple as that it's an easy food to keep down when you don't feel well.

For me, it's soothing, and the hotness helps clear my sinuses. That, and it's generally good for you.

If only they'd make a soup out of my next favorite sickness staple: Tylenol PM.