Global respect for chicken soup to facilitate respiratory infections | News, sports, jobs

Q: I really enjoyed your radio program on home remedies. I would like to add my voice to those who love and praise the advantages of the chicken soup. But I want to mention a very special type – the chicken noodle soup that you can get in Chinese restaurants and achievements. The broth is excellent, and the chicken pieces and the long noodles are a delight.

A bowl or two of this soup seems to soften the symptoms of colds and flu and produce a feeling of well-being.

I really enjoyed the soup when I caught Cavid-19 in early September. It was one of the few things I could taste. The addition of a green onion cut to my chicken noodle soup seems to increase the advantages of the soup. And it really adds to the flavor. Chicken soup is wonderful healing food.

A: We certainly agree with you on the advantages of chicken soup to help people feel better when they recover from an infection of the upper respiratory tract. Scientists have not studied this venerable home remedy in depth.

However, a quarter of a century ago, researchers published a study demonstrating certain anti-inflammatory properties of chicken soup (chest, October 2000).

A few years later, an expert in medicine based on evidence for influenza urged people to use safe treatments for relief of symptoms (current reports on infectious diseases, May 2002). As he pointed out, little is more sure than chicken soup.

We cannot talk about the medicinal power of the slices of the onion, but we agree that they taste good. Chinese scientists take the flavor of chicken soup seriously and have developed an ultrasonic assisted stew technique to maximize the taste (Food Chemistry X, January 15, 2025).

Q: I have never found relief of my stomach burns with the home remedies that you usually suggest. On the other hand, the DGL chewable tablets (DeclyCyrrhizined Liquorice) grant almost instant relief.

A: A trial controlled by placebo in double blind from Gutgard, a DGL brand formulation, demonstrates the efficiency against stomach burns and the gastroesophageal reflex (GERD). This study was published in Complementary Medicine Research (February 10, 2025). The ingredient can be found in the nature of DGL Ultra.

Glycyrrhizine is one of the active compounds of natural liquorice. Consumption of too much could lead to high blood pressure, an electrolytic imbalance and the retention of fluids.

This is why DGL is preferred instead of regular liquorice.

Q: I had heard for years the installation of soap as a remedy for leg cramps.

However, I didn’t need it until recently.

Not long ago, I started to have insomnia several evenings a week, as well as cramps on foot and legs. So I got a lavender soap bar and put it in bed near my feet.

It made the heavenly leaves felt.

I haven’t even had a little foot or a leg cramp since I put the soap there. And my insomnia is now nonexistent! I wake up well rested. I don’t know why it works, but it’s really the case!

A: Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) has been used in aromatherapy for centuries, if not millennia. A review in complementary and alternative medicine based on evidence (March 14, 2013) reinforces the use of this essential oil to overcome insomnia. An analysis of 11 studies has revealed that the breathing in the aroma of lavender can help to alleviate anxiety and its symptoms (Healthcare, November 17, 2023).

In their column, Joe and Teresa Graedon respond to the letters of the readers. Write to them with Care of King Functions, 628 Virginia Drive, Orlando, FL 32803, or send them an e-mail via their website: www.peoplespharmacy.com.