Feed a Cold, Starve a Fever and Chicken Soup

The old adage of "feed a cold starve a fever" has been around forever and there's now not only wisdom in that statement, but it's now backed up by scientific fact. Yep, sometimes the old folk sayings have a lot of basis in truth and now that particular piece of sage advice now has credentials.

Basically, what they found out was that the two conditions seem to react differently to food. While people are suffering from a cold or the flu, eating seems to help ease the symptoms. On the other hand, if you have an infection like staph, eating makes the symptoms worse.

Of course, the advice to starve a fever shouldn't be taken literally. The experts recommend that you eat small portions of things like yogurt and avoid foods with high sugar content.

This seems like the perfect place to bring up the subject of chicken soup. Now there's a dish that fills the bill whether you have a cold or a fever. If you have fever, just eat less. It's hard to beat homemade chicken soup when you're fighting a cold. Notice that I said "homemade". That junk that's ready in a minute isn't chicken soup, and I've never tasted chicken soup from a can that even comes close to the home cooked variety.

The old chicken soup cure has wings too. Researchers say that chicken soup inhibits the movement of things called "neutrophils." Let me save you the trouble; I looked it up and it has to do with white blood cells that defend against infection. According to scientist, chicken soup actually reduces the symptoms of an upper respiratory cold.

Make a pot of it now. Here's a recipe.