Well honestly I don't think it is the chicken that is helping, I believe it is just the hot broth.

Chicken soup does not combat influenza. It simply eases symptoms of infulenza.

Spunts, chicken soup HAS been proven to be medicinal: "There has been no evidence regarding the healing powers of chicken soup that has been close to conclusive - perhaps until now . Dr. Stephen Rennard thought his family's soup really did work. But as a scientist, he needed proof. "One day we were discussing chicken soup," Rennard explains. "My wife says that grandma says this is good for colds, and I said maybe it has some anti-inflammatory action." So Rennard put his theory to the test. He added his wife's home made soup to white blood cells called neutrophils. They're the cells which rush to attack an invading virus. That can cause the buildup of fluids in the chest. Rennard found that his wife's homemade soup did slow the neutrophils. But a third of the store bought soups slowed the cells even more. Knorr's chicken noodle was most effective followed by two kinds of Campbell's, a Lipton and a Progresso chicken soup. (Click for details.) Rennard can't explain why. "Without doubt there are biologically active compounds in the chicken soup that can slow neutrophil migration," Rennard said. Rennard's study made headlines when it was published in a respected American medical journal last year. He's not alone in his search for the soup's secret. A year earlier, two Israeli researchers asked the World Health Organization to classify chicken soup as an essential drug. That request was a joke. But Jenni Tsafrir, a medical researcher at Tel Aviv University, says the soup actually meets the W.H.O.'s criteria for an essential drug." http://www.cbc.ca/consumers/market/files/food/chickensoup/ --------------------------------------- Another synopsis, which addresses vegetarians: "Chicken soup confirmed as cold and flu fighter 20 October, 2000 Research just published in the medical journal Chest, has confirmed what many of us have suspected and our grandmothers have long known – that chicken soup does help the symptoms of colds and flu. Dr Stephen Rennard, a US chest specialist, tested various chicken soups, from a traditional, home made soup, to a number of commercial varieties, in the laboratory. Dr Rennard found that the soups had anti-inflammatory properties that acted to stop our throats becoming sore and helped stop the movement of neutrophils (white blood cells that encourage the flow of mucus that accumulates in the lungs and nose)." Interestingly for vegetarians, the vegetables in the soup had some of the same qualities as the chicken. http://www.mydr.com.au/default.asp?article=2525 I don't know if the vegetables would have the same effect without the chicken broth, though.