King of the Soups

By Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen

Chicken soup not only soothes your soul, it can lower your blood pressure, clear nasal clog, reduce inflammation—and even help you lose weight. (Is this a perfect food or what?) Research published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry revealed that the collagen proteins in chicken produced a significant and prolonged decrease in blood pressure (at least in rats). Others have discovered that chicken broth decreases inflammation by inhibiting inflammatory catalysts called neutrophils. Furthermore, inhaling the steam from chicken soup opens cold-congested noses and throats, and sipping a low-cal version of chicken soup before your entrée can increase feelings of satiety, which means you’ll eat less.

To ensure your soup packs plenty of health benefits, make the broth with chicken legs and feet—they contain the highest amounts of collagen protein in the chicken, which relieves hypertension and heart failure by enlarging blood vessels. —Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen