Chicken soup may cure some ills

Published 9:00 pm Sunday, January 2, 2005

Chicken soup? Let’s thank Camano Island contributor Celia L. Hartley, M.N., R.N., for her letter.

“When you have read this, you may say, ‘Oh, I don’t think we want to go there,’ but I thought this worth writing about anyway. With all the current hubbub about flu vaccines (or the lack of same), etc., it may be of interest.

“Several years ago, when I chaired the Health Sciences Division at College of the Desert in Palm Desert, Calif., this recipe was given to me by the head of our respiratory therapy program. It had been published in one of his journals.

“When I researched it, I found some interesting information. Chicken soup was first prescribed by the 12th-century physician Maimonides as a cold and asthma remedy, and has been referred to as Jewish penicillin.

“In a study published in Chest in 1978, Marvin Sackner, M.D., a pulmonary specialist in Miami, found that sipping hot chicken soup cleared congestion by promoting the flow of air and mucous in the nasal passages better than plain hot or cold water.

“Another pulmonologist, Stephen Rennard, M.D., chief of pulmonary medicine at the University of Nebraska in Omaha, also declared chicken soup to be anti-inflammatory – it blocks the movement of inflammatory white cells. And, according to Irwin Ziment, M.D., pulmonary specialist at UCLA medical school, chicken soup actually contains many drug-like agents similar to those found in modern cold medicines.

“For example, cysteine, an amino acid released from chicken in cooking, chemically resembles the drug acetylcysteine, prescribed for bronchitis and other respiratory problems.

“The pungent ingredients often added to chicken soup, such as garlic, cayenne pepper and curry spices, all are ancient treatments for respiratory diseases. They work the same way as expectorant drugs and cough medicines – thinning mucous and making breathing easier.”

Concluding this (what strikes me as a great, informative, highly interesting and edible/sippable) recipe-letter combo, Hartley says, “Anyway, here is Dr. Ziment’s recipe. And, to give equal time to Dr. Rennard, here is his recipe for chicken soup pulled from the Internet.”

Dr. Ziment’s garlic chicken soup

2cans low-sodium chicken broth (or 31/2 cups homemade broth)

1head garlic (about 15 cloves), peeled

1medium onion, quartered

1 1/2tablespoons each minced parsley and cilantro

1teaspoon curry powder

1/4teaspoon red pepper flakes

Salt to taste

1tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Put all ingredients except the lemon juice in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered or uncovered (omit the cover if you wish to inhale therapeutic cooking fumes), for 30 minutes.

In a blender or food processor, puree the cooked garlic, onions and herbs with a little of the liquid and stir back into the soup. Add lemon juice. If you want a clear broth, filter out the solid constituents.

Makes about 31/2 cups.

An effective dose: as little as 1/2 cup, but for a better response, take 1 to 2 cups, Ziment says. He advises sipping slowly to get the most benefits.

Dr. Rennard’s chicken soup

1stewing chicken or hen (about 4 pounds), preferably whole

Water

3large onions, peeled and halved

1large sweet potato, peeled and halved

3parsnips, peeled and halved

2turnips, peeled and halved

12large carrots (2 pounds), peeled and halved

6ribs celery, halved

1bunch parsley, trimmed to stems

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Put chicken in a very large pot and add water to cover. Bring to a boil and add the root vegetables. Simmer for 1 hour. Add the celery and parsley and simmer 90 minutes or until the vegetables are very soft.

Remove the chicken (reserving for another purpose). Drain the vegetables into a colander, saving all the broth. In a food processor, puree the vegetables, then return puree to the broth.

Skim off the fat before serving.

Makes about 16 cups. Can be frozen and used when a cold strikes.

The next Forum will appear in Wednesday’s Food section.