Chicken Soup Really Is Good for a Cold

Chicken Soup Really Is Good for a Cold

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=117888

What follows is something like snake oil and scientific mumbo jumbo.

One can even say while “it” may work, one still does not know why it works. Of course there are many theories on the subjects. Some of them are even taught to aspiring doctors. But so was blood letting at one time, too.

Anything that creates a slightly more acidic blood will also help kill germs and viruses in our bodies, or so the theory goes.

Even in the local Mennonite Community and General Store a lot of Amish type concoctions are sold. Many are “health enhancers”, and often include New England vinegars which when taken, and I don’t like taking it, but it does increase and the make the blood more acidic, like what chicken soup may do for so many.

And the conventional recommendation for sodium intake best applies in more sedentary settings. So if one is doing manual labor, farm type work, military type work, or anything similar where one sweats a lot, they will need more sodium intake, too. After all, in earlier times when one could often not get salt, it was said to be “worth its weight in gold”. And the animals around us are smart over time, too. Most know of various “salt licks” where they may live. Salt licks generally speaking are where the local salt water layer (if you have it) comes to the surface of the earth and provides a “saltier taste” to the soil, and the local animals will lick the soil as way to gain sodium.

And last comes plain old generic zinc. The old wives tale was to take zinc (usually once a day at around 30 to 50 mg) when they think a cold is coming on. The theory is that it helps our bodies heal themselves, like make the recovery period a few days quicker. So it doesn’t kill the cold or flu virus, but it does help our body kill the virus.

Now similar drugs (OTC – Over the Counter in the USA – like no doctor visit or prescription is required) like Zi-Cam and Cold-Eze are a more modern high tech version of the same (they use a zinc-ion method) to do the same thing and of course at a much higher price.

And, of course, our bodies are all different, so some of this old snake oil and scientific mumbo jumbo stories may help most, but not always “all”.

And we all know sometimes we just get sick with a cold or the flu ( the flu is like a cold, but one usually gets sore from it, too), and as always getting some rest, being warm, and hydrated, sure helps our bodies help heal themselves. At least we get an immunity out of it which will last for a while.

And sometimes we even die, which will happen eventually, anyway. So this post is more about quality of life while we are alive on the Earth than trying to extend our lives forever.