During autumn, the temperate drops and winter rapidly approaches. Unfortunately, a lot of us come down with colds and flu. It’s important to keep yourself warm and well, as flu thrives in the cold.

While there is no cure for the common cold, there are some foods you just can’t beat when you’re ill, those really comforting foods. Soup is a very popular choice of food when you’re sick, but what is it about it? Why does soup make us feel so much better when we’re ill?

Health Benefits of Soup

Nutrients

It has been proven soup can relieve cold and flu symptoms. Particularly, chicken soup. This is known for being an easy-to-eat source of vitamins, minerals, calories and most importantly, protein.

This is basically everything your body craves when you’re unwell, and it doesn’t require 3 hours in the kitchen or tons of effort. Chicken contains an amino acid called cysteine, which helps thin mucus in the lungs; The heat from the soup helps to keep nasal passages moist, prevents dehydration and fight inflammation in the throat.

In a nutshell, chicken soup is a great source of fluids, calories, protein, vitamins and minerals, and it is a natural decongestant and may block cells that cause coughing and a stuffy nose. It’s time to try our Cream of Chicken Soup if you can feel something coming on and you want to try and stop it in its tracks.

Warmth

The NHS provides four simple ways to treat a cold yourself, which includes keeping warm and staying hydrated. A steamy soup may provide the same comfort as being tucked under your duvet on a cold day and it has been proven that the warmth it provides can relieve the symptoms of a cold!

Alternatively, if you’re not lucky enough to be under your duvet on a cold day you can always carry around the warmth with you using a thermos.

A 2008 study by the Common Cold Centre at Cardiff University found that hot liquids were beneficial to those with a head cold. This study concluded that hot drinks provided immediate relief from coughing, sneezing and tiredness.

Hydration

And finally, hydration. We all know how it important it is to stay hydrated, but do we really know why? It’s because getting dehydrated while you’re ill can make you feel a lot worse.

Drinking enough fluids is an essential factor of keeping your body functioning properly to prevent dehydration. Warm liquids such as soup and broth help your mucus move around (as gross as it sounds!) This means you can blow it out which will help get yourself on the mend.

Some soups also contain foods that will hydrate you as well as give you your nutrients and warmth. Made up of 95% water, celery doesn’t just hydrate, it’s a great source of vitamin K, folate and potassium.

Warming recipes from Campbell’s

In our recipes section, we have all kinds of warming recipes you can try yourself this Winter using Campbell’s soup.

Some of our favourites include Turkey, Sage & Onion Pasta Bake, Mushroom & Ricotta Cannelloni  & Simple Festive Leftover Pie. Alternatively, if you have you own soup recipe we’d love to try it so let us know here!