ASK THE DOC: This week’s question focuses on the age old remedy of chicken soup for a cold and why it actually might work!

Question: I’ve always been told to eat chicken soup when I have a cold. Does that make any sense? Is there something in the chicken soup that helps cure a cold? Or is it all bunk?
Answer: Chicken soup does help, but you have to use it correctly and it helps to know why. As far as the scientific community is concerned, there is no particular substance in chicken soup - except perhaps salt - that helps to fight infection. But what does make sense is how the physical properties of the soup interact with your airway passages.

For all of this to work, the soup has to be hot — not so hot that you burn yourself; but hot enough that you can see the vapor rising off the surface. You should make sure that your face is in the vapor — you can intensify this effect by covering your head and the soup with a towel. When you do this, two things happen:

First of all, the rising vapor off the surface of the soup helps to open up your nasal passages, which helps to improve drainage — a lot like how decongestant medications work.

Second, the vapor is oily and sticks to your airway passages. This provides something substantive to cough out of your chest and blow out of your nose — a lot like how expectorant medications work.

Finally, in terms of nutritional support for your illness, chicken soup tends to contain a good balance of water, protein, carbs, vitamins, and minerals so that your body can do its best to get you better.

So overall, thank your moms for the chicken soup that they gave you…and pass on the tradition — you might help someone get better quicker.

Note: If you are interested in getting the same effect from a vegan alternative, just make sure that you have the same balance of fat (the most important part), protein, carbs, and veggies and you should be able to reap similar benefits.

Email your health questions to Dr. Sharmat and, if your question is selected, he will post an answer here incorporating information from various specialists in the community.