Does Chicken Soup Really Work?

THE IMMUNE SYSTEM has to be one of the great miracles of the human body. It is the most sensitive and extensive surveillance system ever contrived. In fact, it is so sensitive that it can hear a biochemical pin drop. In relationship to our immunity, this awareness is ultimately translated into a recognition of what is self and what is not self. Our Internal Intelligence has the ability to observe and analyze myriad events that occur simultaneously throughout the body, and take immediate action when a problem is perceived.

In increasing numbers of cases, the body loses its ability to distinguish between what is us and what is a foreign invader, and begins to attack its own tissues. We literally become allergic to ourselves. This indicates that the immune system has become so hypersensitive that it is triggered at the drop of a hat. This is calledautoimmune disease.

This hypersensitive condition indicates that the immune system has been overworked, undernourished, and is in desperate need of repair and rejuvenation. The surveillance portion of our immune system has become so excessively vigilant that our neuroendocrine system stays stuck on constant alert, and our poor adrenal glands are in a perpetual state of emergency.

This situation does not develop overnight, but usually builds up over a period of time. During the years preceding the onset of autoimmune disease, the body simply begins to wear itself out. This usually occurs because we demand too much from our body, have an enormous amount of multidimensional stress in our lives, live in a biochemically hostile and toxic environment, or, most likely, a combination of all three. We tend to push ourselves to the limit, and don’t replace the resources that we use up. When our immunity degenerates to this point, most of our internal organs become too weak to do anything about it. The solution is now difficult, but not impossible.

It helps to understand why the body is attacking itself. This mystery was actually solved in the 1930s by a nutritionist named Dr. Royal Lee. Dr. Lee, who founded Standard Process Laboratories, discovered that weakened organs leave a trail ofcellular debris behind when they break down. Initially, it is this trail of cellular debris that the immune system traces back to its origin. The immune system correctly determines that it is one of our organs that is causing the cellular debris. At this point, our immune system tries to resolve the problem by attacking the cause, in this case, its own organ.

This weakened organ continues to break down, creating even more cellular debris, while the immune system continues to attack the source of the problem. It is like a catch-22 in the body for which there is no real solution.

Believe it or not, this is where chicken soup comes in. Chicken soup creates
additional cellular debris from the tissues and bones of the chicken, and our immune system leaves the weakened organ alone, focusing instead on the debris created by the chicken soup, which is much greater in degree than the weakened organ in question.

We can take advantage of this internal mechanism by using what is called a protomorphogen. Like the chicken soup, a protomorphogen acts as a decoy, so that the immune system attacks it, and leaves our weakened organ alone. Meanwhile, we use the time we gain from this distraction to rebuild the weakened organ. In the short span of a month or two, the organ regains its strength and ceases leaving a trail of chemical debris, and our immune system stops its attack.

Your grandmother was right: Chicken soup does have magical powers!

A list of protomorphogens for a variety of organs is included in appendix A of Health Is Simple, and can be used to help our depleted organs, without any side effects. It is interesting to note that the most common organs involved in this scenario are the organs of the endocrine system, especially the adrenal glands and the thyroid.

If you take a protomorphogen for a weakened organ, it is also important that you take specific nutritional support to rebuild that organ at the same time. The combination of protomorphogen and nutritional support can usually get the job done in a few month’s time.