Many people know that chicken broth is good for colds. It is primarily offered to a person who is ill and has lost his appetite. It turns out that they do it for a reason. This really makes sense, which even scientists confirm. According to them, this is one of the best medicines in the winter season, which can protect our body from colds, and if the disease has already knocked down, then help get back on your feet as soon as possible. What is the strength of this amazing dish, we will tell in this article.
The secret of the broth
Chicken broth for colds has been used as an effective remedy for the symptomatic treatment of certain respiratory diseases for many centuries, and they do it in completely different traditions and cultures. Many skeptics until recently expressed reasonable doubtsin the wisdom of using chicken broth for a cold.
But about two decades ago, American scientists laid the scientific basis for assumptions. They managed to find out how chicken broth is useful for colds. It turned out that properly cooked chicken soup really effectively affects the human body, helping it get rid of inflammation of the respiratory tract.
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 foreign invasion. The body sends white blood cells to fight the enemy.
It turned out that chicken soup affects neutrophils. This is a subspecies of white blood cells that plays an important role in protecting our body from bacterial infections. In the fight against viruses, neutrophils are not as effective, and it is viruses that provoke most colds.
It turned out that despite its uselessness in acute respiratory viral diseases, this group of leukocytes still actively moves to the site of the lesion, causing inflammation. The result is a decrease in all protective functions of the body. The side effects of their activities are the unpleasant symptoms that accompany a cold, and the disease is much more difficult to bear.
As a result of laboratory experiments, it was possible to find out how chicken broth helps with colds. It reduces the ability of neutrophils to move towards inflammation. This leads to the fact that up to the topthe respiratory tract gets much less of them, as a result, inflammatory phenomena do not appear so clearly or even subside. The patient's condition stabilizes and improves significantly. At the same time, there is a certain trend: the richer the soup, the better it copes with the task assigned to it.
Magic Ingredients
However, it remains unclear why chicken broth helps so well with a cold. Some experts suggest that the fact is that there is a huge amount of biologically active elements in food products.
The benefits of chicken soup against colds have been talked about since at least the 12th century. The recommendations of the Jewish physician and philosopher Moshe ben Maimon, who speaks of the benefits of chicken broth for colds, date back to this period. Since then, the recipe for the miraculous first course has been passed down from generation to generation.
Most soups (chicken is no exception) are high in fiber and loaded with nutritious ingredients. In particular, antioxidants and vitamin C. As a result, scientists conclude that even one bowl 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 the physical and psychological condition of the patient improves due to a kind of placebo effect, which also cannot be ignored.
More fluids when sick
A certain role is also played by the fact that due to the soup a person consumes additional liquid, which is so important in case of a cold. Due to profuse sweating and a severe runny nose, the patient begins to experience dehydration, so it is important to replenish the loss of moisture, which is facilitated by nutritious chicken broth.
Summing up, it should be noted that modern researchers still do not know for sure, due to which chicken soup "achieves" such outstanding results in the fight against colds. But it is already possible to say with a certain degree of certainty that it is the ingredients contained in this dish that significantly improve the patient's well-being.
Bouillon Features
Any hostess, even a beginner, can prepare a he althy broth. There are no special tricks in the cooking process. However, it is important that the soup that you give to the sick person for a cold has certain properties.
It is believed that it should be as rich as possible. Ideally, you need to get a clear, clean broth with a pronounced delicate chicken taste. It is better that he was dietary. Note that it is not customary to put a lot of pepper and bright spices into the healing soup, so as not to interrupt its natural aroma.
List of ingredients
The classic recipe for chicken broth for a cold consists of the following ingredients:
- 1.5 kilos of chicken bones with some meat on them (it can be necks, legs, wings, heads), in alternatively use one medium sized soup chicken;
- large carrots;
- medium bulb;
- parsley root;
- leek stalk;
- three celery stalks;
- five peas of black and allspice;
- s alt to taste.
That's all the ingredients you need to make this dish.
Process
Now we will tell you in detail how to cook chicken broth. When you have a cold, you want light food, so cut off excess fat. To make a white broth, put half of 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 the parsley root. Just cut the peeled onion into four parts. Divide the leek stalk along its entire length, then rinse under running water and cut coarsely.
When the broth boils, set the fire to minimum, remove the foam from the surface. Put the carrots, onion, leek and parsley root into the soup. Boil the broth with a lid that is not completely closed, constantly skimming off the foam and avoiding too violent a boil. The broth should cook for two to two and a half hours.
Final Stage
About 30 minutes before it's done, add the peppercorns and halved celery stalks to the pot.
The resulting broth must be filtered through a colander, the bottom of whichshould be covered with gauze. If you will immediately give the broth to the patient, then you need to s alt it a few minutes before removing the pan from the heat.
Helpful tips
If you are faced with the task of cooking a dark, rich broth, then before cooking, already chopped vegetables and chicken bones need to be fried a little 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. You can turn them over once during cooking.
Only after that, transfer all the ingredients to the pan, adding the released fat and juices. Pour three liters of cold water and cook according to the same recipe.
