We are all familiar with the comfort chicken soup provides our soul. You might have read one of the many “Chicken Soup for the Soul” books. And just thinking about Mom’s chicken soup, whether lovingly poured from a can or simmered for hours on the stove, will conjure up feelings of love.

Now, science has shown there are some surprising ways chicken soup nourishes your body (not to take anything away from Mom).

The most widely cited study was published back in 2000 when a researcher from the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha used his wife’s homemade chicken soup recipe to determine why chicken soup might help colds. Using blood samples from volunteers, he showed that the soup inhibited the movement of neutrophils, the most common type of white blood cell that defends against infection, which helps reduce upper respiratory cold symptoms. Other researchers at Mt. Sinai in Miami found that chicken soup did a better job than other hot liquids to help clear nasal mucus and nasal passages. None of the research can be called conclusive, but many of us have proven the chicken soup theory in the kitchens of our own homes, where it really counts anyway.