The IAA One Minute Blog

There’s a chill in the air and frost on the ground, which can only mean one thing: cold and flu season has arrived.  Along with cold and flu season comes many suggestions on how to cure cold and flu symptoms.  Many recommend a good dose of chicken soup—but can it really work?

The Science Behind Grandma’s Chicken Soup

A study published in the medical journal, Chest, found that chicken soup contains anti-inflammatory properties that may help prevent a cold’s miserable side effects.

Researchers believe that colds are caused by viral infections in the upper respiratory tract. The body responds with inflammation, which triggers white blood cells (neutrophils) to the area. These cells are responsible for migrating to sites where the body has been invaded by germs. What draws them to sites are chemicals called “chemotactic factors.”  These bacteria-devouring cells however, have little ability to kill off a virus, and as a side-effect stimulates the production of mucus, which may cause symptoms of a stuffy head, coughing and sneezing.

During the experiment, scientists tested the ability of those neutrophils to migrate from one side of a chamber across a filter to the other side as they normally do. After mixing the soup with neutrophils, scientists checked to see whether it stopped the cell’s tendency to move toward the chemotactic factors. The overall conclusion: chicken soup inhibits neutrophil movement toward chemotactic factors. In other words, soup is good for a cold. 

The theory is that some ingredients in the soup blocks or slows down the amount of cells congregating in the lung area, possibly relieving the development of cold symptoms. Researchers could not identify the exact ingredients in the soup that made it effective against colds, but say it may be a combination of vegetables and chicken that work together.

Cold and Flu Remedies: Fact or Fiction?

Remedies and suggestions for warding off or beating a cold and the flu have been passed around for centuries.  The question is, are these tips and remedies fact or fiction?

• Feed a cold and starve a fever: Fiction. You will not be hearing this advice from your doctor. You should be focused on drinking enough as it is important to stay hydrated.  Eating can help, but not when it’s forced.
• Lingering in wet clothes or going outside in cold weather with wet hair can increase your chances of getting a cold: Fiction. While the viruses are most common during those times of the year, the consensus among physicians seems to be that colds are caused by people staying indoors to avoid the cold, not from the cold itself.
• Stress increases your chances of getting a cold or the flu: Undetermined. While medicine may not be able to tell if stress increases the risk of catching a cold or the flu, stress can make either of those conditions worse once you have it.
• Zinc or echinacea can help prevent or shorten the length of a cold: Undetermined. Both zinc and echinacea have had a number of studies done on them and neither has been shown conclusively to help battle colds.   

Of course, we all know remedies that can certainly help us beat a cold and the flu:

• Antihistamines: Provides minor relief of several cold symptoms, including coughing, sneezing, watery eyes, and nasal discharge. 
• Sleep: Studies show that adequate bed rest boosts immune function and reduces the risk of catching a cold. Extra sleep helps cold sufferers feel better.
• Take a shower: A hot shower loosens clogged nasal passages and moistens your mucus membranes.
• Washing your hands: Colds commonly spread when we touch someone or something that harbors cold causing viruses and then infect ourselves by touching our noses or eyes. Hand washing is great at eliminating viruses before they make us sick (and before we spread them to others). The key is to wash thoroughly and regularly.
• Water and other fluids: Water, juice, clear broth, or warm lemon water with honey helps lessen congestion and prevents dehydration.

Both a cold and the flu are easily spread so try your best at keeping them at bay!

What IAA has to Say

Insurance Administrator of America wants you to fight back this cold and flu season.  Maybe a cup of chicken soup is the answer! Remember, with IAA one call does it all.

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