Many people know that chicken broth is good for colds. It is primarily offered to a person who is sick and has lost his appetite. It turns out that they do it for good reason. This really makes sense, which even scientists confirm. According to them, this is one of the best medicines in the winter season, able to protect our body from the common cold, and if the disease is already crippled, then help to get on your feet as quickly as possible. What is the strength of this amazing dish, we will tell in this article.
The secret of the broth
Cold chicken broth as an effective remedy for the symptomatic treatment of some respiratory diseases has been used for many centuries, and they do this in completely different traditions and cultures. Many skeptics, until recently, have expressed reasonable doubts about the wisdom of using chicken broth for colds.
But about two decades ago, American scientists summed up the scientific basis for speculation. They managed to find out how chicken stock is useful for colds. It turned out that properly cooked chicken soup really effectively affects the human body, helping him get rid of airway inflammation.
The secret is that a bacterial or viral infection during development is always accompanied by inflammation - this is the natural response of our immune system to a dangerous alien invasion. The body sends white blood cells - white blood cells - to fight the enemy.
It turned out that chicken soup affects neutrophils. This is a subspecies of white blood cells, which plays an important role in protecting our body from bacterial infections. In the fight against viruses, neutrophils are not so effective, and it is the viruses that provoke the majority of colds.
It turned out that despite its futility in acute respiratory viral diseases, this group of leukocytes still actively moves to the site of the lesion, causing inflammation. The consequence is a decrease in all the protective functions of the body. Side effects of their activity are unpleasant symptoms that accompany a cold, and the disease is much more severe.
As a result of laboratory experiments, it was possible to find out how chicken stock helps with colds. It reduces the ability of neutrophils to move in the direction of inflammation. This leads to the fact that they reach the upper respiratory tract much less, as a result, inflammatory phenomena do not appear so clearly or even subside. The patient's condition is stabilized and significantly improved. At the same time, there is a certain tendency: the more rich the soup, the better it copes with its task.
Magic ingredients
However, it remains incomprehensible, due to which chicken broth so well helps with colds. Some experts suggest that the fact is that a huge amount of biologically active elements are present in food products.
The benefits of chicken soup in the fight against colds were discussed at least in the 12th century. This period includes the recommendations of a Jewish doctor and philosopher Moshe ben Maimon, who speaks about the benefits of chicken broth for colds. Since then, the recipe for the miraculous first course has been passed on from generation to generation.
Most soups (chicken in this case is no exception) contain high fiber content and many nutritious ingredients. In particular, antioxidants and vitamin C. As a result, scientists come to the conclusion that even one plate of soup can provide the patient with the dose of nutrients he needs and effectively strengthen the immune system.
At the same time, experts add that physically and psychologically the patient’s condition improves due to the peculiar placebo effect, which also cannot be ignored.
More fluid for illness
A certain role is also played by the fact that due to the soup a person consumes additional fluid, which is so important for colds. Due to profuse sweating and a bad cold, the patient begins to experience dehydration, so it is so important to make up for the loss of moisture, which is facilitated by the nutritious chicken broth.
Summing up, it should be noted that it is not yet known to reliable modern researchers, due to which chicken soup "achieves" such outstanding results in the fight against colds. But we can already say with a certain degree of certainty that it is the ingredients contained in this dish that significantly improve the well-being of the patient.
Broth features
Any housewife, even a beginner, can cook a healthy broth. There are no special tricks in the cooking process. However, it is important that the soup that you will give the patient with a cold has certain properties.
It is believed that it should be as rich as possible. Ideally, you need to get a transparent, clean broth with a pronounced delicate chicken flavor. It’s better to be dietary. Note that it is not customary to put a lot of pepper and bright spices in the healing soup so as not to interrupt its natural aroma.
List of ingredients
The classic cold chicken recipe consists of the following ingredients:
- 1.5 kilograms of chicken bones with a small amount of meat on them (it can be necks, legs, wings, heads), as an alternative, you can use one medium-sized soup chicken;
- large carrots;
- medium onion;
- parsley root;
- stem of leek;
- three petioles of celery;
- five peas of black and allspice;
- salt to taste.
That's all the ingredients you need to make this dish.
Process
Now we’ll tell you in detail how to cook chicken broth. With a cold, you want light food, so cut off the excess fat. To make a broth of white color, put half the chicken or bone in a saucepan and pour three liters of drinking water. Bring it to a boil over medium heat.
Peel one carrot and chop coarsely. Do the same with parsley root. Cut the peeled onion into four parts. Divide the leek stalk along the entire length, then rinse under running water and cut coarsely.
When the broth boils, set the minimum heat, remove foam from the surface. Put carrots, onions, leeks and parsley root in the soup. Cook the broth under a lid that is not fully closed, constantly removing foam and avoiding too boiling too much. The broth should cook for two to two and a half hours.
Final stage
About 30 minutes before cooking, add peppercorns to the pan and celery stalks cut in half.
The resulting broth should be filtered through a colander, the bottom of which should be covered with gauze. If you will immediately give the broth to the patient, then you need to salt it several minutes before removing the pan from the heat.
Useful Tips
If you are faced with the task of boiling a dark, rich broth, then before cooking, already chopped vegetables and chicken bones need to be slightly fried in the oven. If you have a whole chicken, cut it into small pieces.
Products are laid out on a baking sheet and sent to a preheated oven at a temperature of 200 degrees. During cooking, they can be turned over once.
Only after that transfer all the ingredients to the pan, adding the allocated fat and juices. Pour with three liters of cold water and cook according to the same recipe.