Does chicken soup or a hot toddy help?
Like many cold remedies, neither will drive a virus from your body. But they can soothe your sore throat and help you sleep. Chicken soup can also clear your nasal passages. Liquids help combat dehydration during illness, and hot soup produces steam that can help break up nasal congestion and keep your nasal passages moist. Many recipes for chicken soup also contain garlic, which has antibiotic and antiviral properties. • Are natural remedies effective? • Zinc: About an equal number of studies say that zinc helps — or that it doesn’t. For some people, zinc lozenges and nasal sprays may help prevent and treat a cold and the flu. • Echinacea: Scientific studies looking at this herbal supplement, traditionally used to treat or prevent colds, reveal mixed results. One shows that a certain type of echinacea formulation did not prevent or treat colds in college students who were exposed to the common cold virus. But studies that evaluate other formulations or other parts of the herb have sh
