There has been no evidence regarding the healing powers of chicken soup that has been close to conclusive - perhaps until now . Dr. Stephen Rennard thought his family’s soup really did work. But as a scientist, he needed proof.
“One day we were discussing chicken soup,” Rennard explains. “My wife says that grandma says this is good for colds, and I said maybe it has some anti-inflammatory action.”
So Rennard put his theory to the test. He added his wife’s home made soup to white blood cells called neutrophils. They’re the cells which rush to attack an invading virus. That can cause the buildup of fluids in the chest.
Taking chicken soup samples for laboratory testing requires the skilled hand of a professional.
Rennard suspected the soup would slow the cells’ movement and reduce congestion. So he tested the homemade chicken soup and thirteen store-bought soups.
The results
Rennard found that his wife’s homemade soup did slow the neutrophils. But a third of the store bought soups slowed the cells even more. Knorr’s chicken noodle was most effective followed by two kinds of Campbell’s, a Lipton and a Progresso chicken soup. (Click for details.) Rennard can’t explain why.
“Without doubt there are biologically active compounds in the chicken soup that can slow neutrophil migration,” Rennard said.
Rennard’s study made headlines when it was published in a respected American medical journal last year. He’s not alone in his search for the soup’s secret. A year earlier, two Israeli researchers asked the World Health Organization to classify chicken soup as an essential drug. That request was a joke. But Jenni Tsafrir, a medical researcher at Tel Aviv University, says the soup actually meets the W.H.O.'s criteria for an essential drug.
“I personally don’t know if it works or not,” Tsafrir told Marketplace. “But I would say the fact it’s been around this long shows there’s some basis for the thought.”
Toronto contagious disease specialist Dr. Allison McGeer displays the current total scientific evidence backing theories of the healing power of chicken soup.
Mainstream remains unconvinced
Many doctors remain skeptical. Contagious disease specialist Dr. Allison McGeer says just because something happens in a lab,doesn’t mean it will work for a human being.
“We used to treat syphilis with arsenic and we used to bleed people to make them better,” McGeer explains. “The world is full of treatments including recent treatments that are utter and errant nonsense and don’t stand up to scientific examination and the fact we believe things does not make them true.”
Rennard admits there does need to be more study, but he believes his is one more morsel of evidence to add to the mix.
It’s enough for soup chef Ester Goodbaum.
“They just proved we’ve been right all these years,” she says.
The research to get the full scoop on soup would cost millions. And because chicken soup can’t be patented, a company would not be able to recover the research costs. So until chickens can talk and explain what their secret ingredient is, we may never know what good medicine chicken soup really is.
