Food to beat back your cold

Chicken soup or honey won't cure the common cold, but they might make you feel better

Chicken soup may not cure you, but it may make you feel better.

There is no cure for the common cold. No shot, no pill, no powder at your local pharmacy or in the physician’s arsenal will prevent a cold, or stop it once it starts. Maybe that’s why moms still turn to the pantry and food- based remedies to treat the sniffles, fevers and queasy stomachs, just as they have for thousands of years.

Healing foods might not kill a virus, but they can help your immune system do the job and make you more comfortable in the process. Well, maybe not all of them. Many old European food remedies weren’t even eaten, but applied directly to the skin. Raw onions and garlic applied to the feet were used to treat fever in children. Goose grease was applied to the chest along with a paste of mustard and flour to relieve congestion.

Even if such food- based cures really work, there are less unpleasant ways to relieve fever and congestion.

Many familiar — and less familiar — candies were developed by doctors and pharmacists as a way to deliver measured doses of medicinal compounds. Those curiously strong Altoid peppermint candies were originally marketed as a cure for intestinal discomfort. But peppermint oil has also been used as a treatment for the common

cold, along with menthol, as far back as the great Egyptian civilizations.

Horehound candy was devised centuries ago to make an extremely bitter herbal extract more palatable, as a

treatment for cough due to cold. Horehound cough drops are still common in Europe and can be found locally at very traditional candy shops and health food stores. A thousand other flavours of cough candies — the descendants of horehound — are displayed just about anywhere there’s a cash register.

Ginger, and its close relative turmeric root, are both traditional remedies for fever. Fresh ginger is used in folk

medicine traditions around the world to ease an upset stomach, while turmeric powder is traditionally used to treat everything from diarrhea to arthritis. Both are commonly used in healing recipes from India and China.

Even the oldest and most popular food- based remedies don’t perform well when tested in a laboratory setting, according to Tamar Kafka, a dietetics instructor at the University of British Columbia.

“There may not be any evidence that chicken soup cures a cold, but it, along with other hot liquids are commonly thought to be short term decongestants,” he said. “If I have a bad cold, this kind of symptom management is worth a try to avoid over the counter decongestants.”

Foods are never going to be as potent as a pharmaceutical treatment for relieving cold symptoms, but drug companies are not as comforting as your mom. Here is the somewhat weak evidence for common food- based cures, most of which derive from a single study or two.

Chicken soup

The go- to treatment for colds in Western civilization, chicken soup has been proven in laboratory studies at the University of Nebraska to inhibit inflammation and may relieve the symptoms of upper respiratory infection by a virus. Homemade soup is best; the effect varied greatly in storebought soups. Hot soup is generally soothing, but researchers at Mount Sinai Hospital also found that hot chicken soup increased mucus flow more effectively than hot water.

Chilis

Hot peppers have long been used as a treatment for the common cold to relieve nasal congestion and promote relaxation. Fresh peppers also contain antioxidants and vitamin C. Capsaicin, the substance that gives peppers their heat, may relax the bronchial passages and loosen mucus in the lungs.

Ginger

Root ginger has been used medicinally for more than 4,000 years in Asia as a cure for nausea and menstrual pain. Ginger has been shown to relieve inflammation, fever and muscle and joint pain. A study by University of Buea ( Cameroon) researchers found that ginger extracts had a therapeutic effect against certain respiratory infections.

Honey

Honey is more than a sweetener for foul- tasting medicines or lemon tea. It has proven medicinal value. Researchers at Pennsylvania State University found that buckwheat honey was consistently more effective at relieving coughs in children than the common over- the- counter cough suppressant dextromethorphan.

Garlic

Garlic has been regarded as a healing food for thousands of years and is a staple of Ayurveda, the ancient Hindu practice of folk medicine. Known to be a potent antioxidant, anti- microbial and anti- inflammatory, garlic appears to reduce the risk of colds and bronchitis in university- based research.