Thursday, November 19, 2015

Food as Medicine: Part 6 - Proverbial Apples and Poultry-laden Soups

Food as Medicine:
Part 5 - Medieval Europe and the Middle East
Part 6 - Proverbial Apples and Poultry-laden Soups

Proverbial Apples and Poultry-laden Soups
 

In a final tidbit of knowledge to round things out, what of the doctor-repellant apples and the miracle cold cure soup? Do they really work or is it just a spot of folk wisdom?

Let's start with the apple. While an apple a day certainly won't guarantee great and everlasting health, apples have long been associated with a healthy diet. The adage itself is slightly younger. Originally popping up in 1860s Pembrokeshire as ‘‘Eat an apple on going to bed, and you’ll keep the doctor from earning his bread,” it evolved to a more rhythmic form in the early 20th century, “an apple a day, no doctor to pay," with the phrase we know today first recorded in 1922. Although the proverb has lasted awhile due to its memorable rhyming nature, the apple is a good source of Vitamin C, which aids the immune system. It also helps reduce tooth decay by cleaning teeth and killing bacteria. So an apple won't stop a broken leg or a tussle with a knife to the liver, but it will help with scurvy and scarlet fever.

As for chicken soup, its legend dates back to the 12th century when Rabbi Moses Maimonides published a book called "Medical Responsa," in which he praised the many health benefits of chicken soup. It was hailed as a cure for everything from pneumonia to a runny nose. What makes it effective as a cold remedy is not so much the chicken or the vegetables, both of which do provide nutrients and important vitamins, but rather it is the broth and the heat. Chicken soup is so comforting for the same reason it makes a sore throat feel better - it is salty. Salt helps kill off bacteria while the warmth of the soup warms the body and coaxes nasal mucus movement. In 2000, study by the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha demonstrated that chicken soup does indeed have anti-inflammatory properties that help reduce cold symptoms, yet many still believe chicken soup provides only a placebo effect due to its well-publicised legend.

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