Chicken Soup with a Twist

Nothing beats a hot homemade chicken soup when it comes to fighting chest congestion and cough. But there's a way of making it extra effective. Add a whole head of unpeeled garlic, (sliced in half crosswise) and two to four quartered, unpeeled onions to the broth before cooking. The skins of garlic and onions have antiviral compounds called "Quercetin" that fights the rhinovirus that's causing the cold. Don't worry about the skins in your soup because you can easily strain them out before eating, the broth will have been infused with quercetin by then. Another perk that we get from chicken soup, whether canned or homemade, is that it blocks the activity of neutrophils. These are the inflammatory cells that trigger coughs and congestion.