Chicken soup has been used as food and medicine for more than 2,000 years. Modern science shows that the cysteine in chicken meat and phytochemicals in he ingredients account for their therapeutic effects

1. By
Kevin KF Ng, MD, PhD.
Former Associate Professor of Medicine
Division of Clinical Pharmacology
University of Miami, Miami, FL., USA
Email: kevinng68@gmail.com
A Slide Presentation for HealthCare Providers March 2023

2. Contents
▪ Poll results in LinkedIn Post.
▪ What is chicken soup?
▪ History of chicken soup.
▪ Nutrients of chicken soup.
▪ Ingredients in chicken soup.
▪ Scientific studies.
▪ Mechanisms of action.
▪ Summary.

3. Poll results on “Is chicken soup a good symptom reliever for a common cold?” posted
in LinkedIn from 2/15/2023 to 2/23/2023
https://www.linkedin.com/analytics/post-summary/urn:li:activity:7031501858342924289/

4. https://www.linkedin.com/analytics/post-
summary/urn:li:activity:7031501858342924289/
Poll results on “Is chicken soup a good symptom reliever for a common cold?” posted
in LinkedIn from 2/15/2023 to 2/23/2023

5. History of chicken soup
Sources: Internet

6. What is in a chicken soup?
▪ Chicken soup is a mixture of chicken meat cooked with
vegetables, fruits, herbs and spices. Noodles and rice
may be added.
▪ A typical Chinese chicken soup is made with
▪ chicken meat
▪ onions
▪ garlics
▪ ginger
▪ salt
▪ noodles.
▪ The ingredients vary widely from countries to countries.

7. Chicken soups around the world in 6 continents
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1. Asia
2. Africa
3. Australasia
4. Europe
5. North America
6. South America.
Sources: Internet

8. Number of publications on “chicken soup” in PubMed from
1970 to 2022
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=chicken+soup

9. NUTRIENT COMPOSITION

10. Composition of Chicken Soup
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11. Major chemicals in Chinese Chicken Soup
:cysteine
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12. Major bioactive compounds and their properties
in Chinese chicken soup
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13. Ingredient variations in chicken soup
across the world
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14. BIOACTIVE COMPOUNDS
▪ CYSTEINE
▪ PHYTOCHEMICALS

15. What is cysteine in chicken soup?
• Cysteine is a nonessential amino acid important for making proteins.
• Cysteine is present in the chicken meat
• Cysteine is a precursor to glutathione (a three-peptide antioxidant in all cells)
glutathione

16. Ginger enhanced the release of cysteine in
Chicken Soup (2021)
Adapted from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8307344/
n.d.
n.d.=not detected

17. Reported pharmacological activities of cysteine
▪ Antibacterial
▪ Antioxidant
▪ Anti-inflammatory
▪ Immuno-modulatory
▪ Anticancer
▪ Mucolytic
▪ Precursor to glutathione
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00726-021-03062-z

18. Anti-inflammatory effect of cysteine on nuclear factor-kappa B
(NF-κB) activation (2012)
Clin Exp Immunol. 2012 Feb; 167(2): 269–274.
Nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) is a protein transcription factor and
considered a regulator of innate immunity.

19. Metabilism of cysteine on passage through the liver
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20. Fate of cysteine in the human body
▪ Cysteineis utilized by multiple pathways. Once generated,cysteine is consumed by variousmetabolic pathwayssuch as
protein synthesis, generationof glutathione,taurine, lanthionine,coenzyme A and the gasotransmitter hydrogen sulfide
(H2S).
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5912966/#:~:text=Metabolism%20
of%20cysteine&text=(B)%20Cysteine%20is%20utilized%20by,sulfide%20(H2S).

21. PHYTOCHEMICALS IN CHICKEN SOUP INGREDIENTS

22. Major Bioactive compounds in an onion (Allium cepa)
Adapted from https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/s-allyl-cysteine
N-acetylcysteine (NAC)
4.5 mg/100g*
*https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3136759/

23. Major bioactive compounds in garlic (Allium sativum)
https://lpi.oregonstate.edu/book/export/html/394
a precursor to glutathione (GSH),

24. Bioactive compounds in ginger (zingiber officinale)
https://www.precisionnutrition.com/all-about-ginger
30%

25. Pharmacological properties of chicken soup ingredients
(NAC)
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26. SCIENTIFIC STUDIES
▪ NASALMUCUS PRODUCTION
▪ NEUTROPHIL CHEMOTAXIS
▪ IMMUNO-MODULATION

28. Chicken soup increased nasal mucus secretion in
15 healthy subjects (1978)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0012369215373876

29. https://journal.chestnet.org/article/S0012-3692%2815%2937721-7/pdf

30. Grandma’s Chicken Soup recipe used in the following study:
Chicken soup inhibits neutrophil chemotaxis in vitro (2000)
https://www.unmc.edu/news/stories/chicken-soup.html https://hal.science/hal-03427686/document

31. Cell viability and inhibition of chemotaxis by
chicken soup ingredients (2000)
https://journal.chestnet.org/article/S0012-3692%2815%2937721-7/pdf
● ●
vegetables
% Cell viability Chemotaxis (Cells/PHF)

33. Effects of chicken soups on the serum cytokines in the
immunosuppressed mice. (2022)
Abbreviations:
• CBS, Cobb broiler soup;
• GCS, Gushi chicken soup;
• HCS, Honglashan chicken soup;
• MC, model control;
• NC, normal control.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9411684/

34. Effects of chicken soups on the release of immunoglobulins in
the immunosuppressed mice (2022)
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9411684/
Normal control (NC), Model control (MC), Gushi Chicken Soup (GCS), Honglashan Chicken Soup (HCS), and Cobb Broiler Soup (CBS)

35. COMMON COLD
▪ INCIDENCE
▪ SYMPTOMS
TREATMENT

36. Common Cold Virus

37. Mean annual incidence of respiratory illnesses
per person by age group (2003)
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140673603121629/fulltext

38. Symptoms of a common cold
▪ The symptoms of a common cold vary from person to person. They can include:
▪ A runny nose
▪ A sore throat
▪ Sneezing
▪ Coughing
▪ Watery eyes
▪ A headache
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/675258537867740315/

39. Difference between a cold and a flu (influenza)
Common cold
▪ Runny nose
▪ A sore throat
▪ Sneezing
▪ Coughing
▪ Watery eyes
▪ A headache
Influenza (Flu)
▪ A cough full of mucus.
▪ A sore throat can be the
first sign of a flu.
▪ A blocked nose
▪ Headaches. They nearly
always come with the flu.
▪ A fever above 102o
.
▪ Body aches and pains.
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40. Treatment for the common cold
▪ There is no cure for the common cold caused by rhinovirus
▪ There is no vaccine for the prevention of common cold.
▪ There is no antiviral drug that targets rhinovirus.
▪ Fortunately, the illness is self-limiting.
▪ The symptoms of the common cold are usually relieved by chicken soup.

41. Over-the-counter medications are generally ineffective
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42. The question is:
Why is chicken soup commonly used as a home remedy?
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Ineffective
Widely used

43. Answer:
Synergy of cysteine and phytochemicals in the chicken soup
▪ Chicken meat:
▪ cysteine
▪ Precursor of glutathione
▪ mucolytic
▪ Antioxidant
▪ Anti-inflammatory
▪ Immuno-modulatory
▪ Ingredients from vegetable and spice:
▪ Onion phytochemicals
▪ Garlic phytochemicals
▪ Ginger phytochemicals

44. How does chicken soup relieve the common cold symptoms?
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Effect of chicken soup

45. Chicken soup reduced severity and duration of cold symptoms
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46. Examples of some delicious chicken soups

47. Summary
▪ Chicken soup became popular in China more than two thousand years ago.
▪ The soup is made by cooking chicken with vegetables or herbs.
▪ Chicken soup has now spread to almost every country in the world.
▪ Scientific studies on how chicken soups affect the commoncold are scarce.
▪ A few studies show that chicken cooked with vegetables, herbs or spices produced
mucolytic, immuno-modulatory and anti-inflammatory effects.
▪ The pharmacological effects are attributed to cysteine in the chicken meat and
phytochemicals in the ingredients.