chicken soup

Bereshit:..............Fowl [chicken etc] were created on the fifth day. As we starting Genesis [Bereshit], let's also start with a very old ,traditionally dish: chicken soup also known as "Jewish penicillin"  [just like garlic has been called Russian  penicillin] The Rambam [Maimonides] already lauded the virtues of chicken [soup],especially for asthma. He wrote a whole treatise about the treatment of asthma in Arabic for  the sun of his “master” [“adoni”] the Sultan in Egypt  I will quote from the translations by professor Fred Rosner[who tanslated the medical writings of   the Rambam in English] in connection with the health benefits of chickens as described by Maimonides.   Maimonides described what kind of chicken [tarnegolim] would be the best: not too old [younger then 2 year] , not too young, not too lean, preferable fatty chicken [by nature and not by stuffed feeding]. As this soup is especially well known in the Jewish kitchen we may try to find out what is "new" since the Rambam. Since long chicken soup has been described-par excellence- for treating respiratory problems . Recently chicken soup has been examined by modern medical research, not really necessary........, but still very fascinating to read and  to know [if we did not already !] Cystein [found in many protein foods  as well as in chicken is released when chicken soup is made]-is also prescribed in the form of a medicine called acetylcysteine- causes a thinning of mucus in the lungs and is therefore beneficial for lung infections. In 1975 a remarkable article was published [journal: Chest 1975;67:215] where a patient needed surgery and penicillin treatment  for a sever pneumonia after he stopped treating himself properly  with chicken soup!! This article was the cause of a long correspondence where many other virtues of chicken soup were mentioned like treating anxiety,backache impotence , etc. with remarks especially by professor Fred Rosner. Maimonides describes boiled chicken soup as an excellent food and medicine even for the treatment  of leprosy.!! [tzara-at] Main indication for chicken soup are a nose[cold],and respiratory infections  [bronchitis,pneumonia] and often asthma. It is an excellent "medicine" to recover from various diseases which left a person weakened. It may be further helpful for:[already mentioned:increases of sexual strength, anxiety], weakness in general,hemorrhoids,and possible for much more. It has also been found that the calcium content of chicken soup increases with duration of cooking the soup with bones. Chicken soup prepared this way may be of use in patients who require calcium, but cannot tolerate dairy products or other calcium sources.  There are of course endless small variations as how chicken soup is made. In Suriname peanut soup is well known: peanut[butter] added to chicken or meat soup: worth trying! Personally I would advise to add in cases of colds and coughs some black pepper as well, as this is one of the best drugs for loosening mucus. And what about our vegetarian friends? Well. you could try to sniff up the vapors from hot chicken soup from your friend etc, this may also be of some benefit. And for those who take chicken soup as a medicine, sip hot soup little bits at a time instead of  drinking a whole cup at once, to make it more effective. Recently is has been shown that chicken-especially the meat of the legs- may be of benefit for hypertension [ACE inhibiting]. In fact I have found in a Chinese book for recipes  [by FaXiang Hou]various chicken soup prescriptions for hypertension [chicken chow mein,spicy gingered chicken etc] Chicken cartilage soup  have also shown to be useful in patients with rheumatoid arthritis . Even for the treatment of thyroiditis [with hyperthyreoidea] chicken soup has been described. As for the relief that chicken soup could give for  facial pain,I could not find on what kind of pain it works but I would certain try it for trigeminus neuralgia , a particular difficult condition to treat! A very nice  article [not free from some subtle humor]was written about chicken soup by   professor Abraham Ohry and dr.Jenni Tsafrir [Tel ha-shomer]. The link is: www.cmaj.ca/cgi/content/full/161/12/1532 For recent research about chicken and its skin [and the benefits]: go to google, type: groups, click on groups, type: bdmesq and type in the search field: chicken  And to end with a happy note: Chicken soup is considered to be able to correct too much black bile [humours] [Rambam] which is connected with melancholy.[sadness] [These  old traditional terms are forgotten or banned in modern medicine]  A cup of chicken soup could do quite a bit of good here,  possibly, by correcting the “excess of  black bile”. And as we are/were in the middle of happy days[semachot]: a few hints in the Tora.[my “fantasy”] The chicken was created on the fifth day: chamesh: chet mem shin : turn letters around: Sameach.[shin mem chet] And so the fish,which is known to remove worries [dag mesir da-aga........now a days explained by the omega 3 in fish] And if you ask about meat [behama]? Are  meat [and wine] not advised by our Rabbis for happiness on our feast days? Well: the cattle [behema] was created on the sixth day [shesh] shin -shin and is the word sas[on][sin-sin] not connected ? These last remarks [pun]you may forget of course..............