Chicken and vegetable soup: a small edge against a cold, and a sodium bill

Chicken soup for a cold is the one folk belief here that has been put to trial, and the trials are few. A 2025 systematic review found 4 randomized trials in 342 children and adults with acute respiratory infections, commonly testing chicken-based soups with vegetables and herbs, and reported modest drops in symptom severity and illness shorter by 1 to 2.5 days. The trials were small and unlike each other, nobody pooled them into one estimate, and the authors call the evidence preliminary. The price is sodium. The USDA reference record for canned ready-to-serve chicken and vegetable soup lists 229 mg per 3.5 oz (100 g), and a second record of a similar soup reaches 416 mg. Those are two records with no sampling spread, and a homemade pot can land far from either.

How much is actually in it

• Canned ready-to-serve chicken and vegetable soup carries about 229 mg of sodium per 3.5 oz (100 g) in the USDA reference record, and a second USDA record of a similar soup reaches 416 mg. — USDA SR Legacy 'Soup, chicken and vegetable, canned, ready-to-serve' (FDC 171546) and one similar chicken vegetable soup record (n = 2 records) Evidence E source
  Per 100 g: sodium 229 mg (range over 2 records 229-416); riboflavin 0.098 mg; vitamin A 52 ug RAE

What cooking and storage change

• Keeping the cooking water, as in soup, saves nutrients: by USDA retention factors for boiled root vegetables, vitamin C retention is 75% when the water is used versus 65% when drained, and potassium 100% versus 90%. — USDA retention factors for Vegetables and Vegetable Products, roots, boiled with water used (code 3456) vs drained (code 3455) Evidence E source
  Retained, water used vs drained: vitamin C 75% vs 65%; folate 80% vs 65%; thiamin 90% vs 80%; potassium 100% vs 90%

What it does to your health

• In a crossover trial in 60 normal-weight adults, eating a vegetable soup before lunch cut total meal energy intake by 20%, about 134 calories, whatever the soup's form. — Normal-weight men and women, lunch once a week for 5 weeks, soup preload 15 min before an ad libitum meal (n = 60) Evidence B source
  Meal energy intake -20% (134 +/- 25 calories) with soup vs no soup; no difference between soup forms
• Observational data link eating soup with lower odds of obesity: a meta-analysis of 7 cross-sectional studies covering 45,292 people found an odds ratio of 0.85. — Adults in 7 cross-sectional studies (n = 45292) Evidence C source
  OR for obesity 0.85 (95% CI 0.79-0.91)

Safety, limits and interactions

• Soups are one of the top four sodium sources in the US diet, supplying 4.4% of all dietary sodium in national survey data. — US population, NHANES 2017-2018 24 h dietary recalls (n = 7081) Evidence C source
  Soups 4.4% of population sodium intake

What people believe that the data does not support

• A 2025 systematic review of 4 small randomized trials (342 people) found that soups, mostly chicken-based with vegetables, modestly eased respiratory infection symptoms and shortened illness by 1 to 2.5 days. — Children, adults and older adults with acute respiratory tract infections, 4 RCTs (n = 342) Evidence A source
  Illness duration shorter by 1-2.5 days; modest reduction in symptom severity; IL-6, TNF-alpha, CRP lower in 2 studies
• The EU did not authorize the claims that soups give a feeling of satiety, fill you up or delay the onset of hunger. — EU health claim application for soups Evidence E source
  Status: non-authorized
• The EU also refused the claims that soups help control body weight or are effective in weight management programs. — EU health claim application for soups Evidence E source
  Status: non-authorized

Who this works differently for

• In 9 trained men cycling in the heat, 12 fl oz (355 ml) of chicken noodle soup before exercise raised voluntary water intake to 1,435 g versus 1,163 g after the same volume of water. — Trained men aged about 25, 90 min cycling at 50% VO2peak in the heat, soup or water 45 min before (n = 9) Evidence B source
  Ad libitum water intake 1,435 +/- 593 vs 1,163 +/- 427 g (p < .03); physical performance not different
• In 97 adults aged 65 and over at risk of malnutrition, a daily protein-enriched vegetarian soup with 24 to 30 g of protein for 12 weeks improved physical performance scores but not body composition. — Community-dwelling adults aged 65 and over at risk of malnutrition and sarcopenia, Taiwan, 12 weeks (n = 97 analyzed (100 randomized)) Evidence B source
  SPPB score beta 0.83 (95% CI 0.15-1.51); chair rise time beta -2.25 s (-4.04 to -0.44); no significant change in body composition

The bottom line

Soup before a meal does fill you up for that meal. In a crossover trial in 60 normal-weight adults, a vegetable soup 15 minutes before lunch cut total meal energy by 20 percent, about 134 calories, and the form of the soup made no difference. That was one lunch in a laboratory, repeated weekly, and it says nothing about body weight over months. The EU did not authorize claims that soups give a feeling of satiety or help control body weight. A refusal means the evidence did not meet the bar when it was assessed. Observational data link eating soup with lower odds of obesity (odds ratio 0.85, 95% CI 0.79 to 0.91, 7 cross-sectional studies, 45,292 people), with soup types not separated and no way to tell cause from habit. Keeping the cooking liquid is what soup does well. USDA retention factors for boiled root vegetables give 75 percent of vitamin C kept when the water is used against 65 percent when it is drained, and 100 against 90 percent for potassium. Those are group factors dating from 1975, never measured on soup itself. In 9 trained men cycling in the heat, 12 fl oz (355 ml) of chicken noodle soup 45 minutes before exercise led them to drink 51 oz (1,435 g) of water against 1,163 g after plain water, a tiny sample with a noodle soup. In 97 adults aged 65 and over at risk of malnutrition in Taiwan, a daily protein-enriched lacto-vegetarian soup for 12 weeks improved a physical performance score (beta 0.83, 95% CI 0.15 to 1.51) without changing body composition, in an open-label trial of a different soup. Sodium is the caution. In US survey data on 7,081 people, soups of all kinds supplied 4.4 percent of all dietary sodium, one of the four largest sources. That is the only safety card we have, and we found nothing on allergy, pregnancy or medicines specific to this soup.

Sources

1. cvg-daily-r1-01 · USDA FoodData Central SR Legacy, dataset
   Soup, chicken and vegetable, canned, ready-to-serve (FDC 171546, SR Legacy, Soups, Sauces, and Gravies): sodium 229 mg per 100 g (2 records 229-416), riboflavin 0.098 mg, vitamin A 52 ug; Foundation samples 0
   USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy (2018), FDC 171546 · checked 2026-10-02
2. cvg-daily-r1-02 · USDA retention factors, dataset
   USDA-RETN-R6:3456 VEG,ROOTS,ETC,BOILED,WATER USED: vitamin_c_mg 75%, folate_total_ug 80%, thiamin_mg 90%, potassium_mg 100%; USDA-RETN-R6:3455 VEG,ROOTS,ETC,BLD,DRAIND,WTR COVER: vitamin_c_mg 65%, folate_total_ug 65%, thiamin_mg 80%, potassium_mg 90%
   USDA Table of Nutrient Retention Factors, Release 6 (2007), codes 3455 and 3456 · checked 2026-10-02
3. cvg-daily-r1-04 · randomized crossover trial
   When soup was consumed, subjects reduced meal energy intake by 20% (134+/-25 kcal; 561+/-105 kJ). The type of soup had no significant effect on test meal intake or total meal energy intake.
   Appetite, 2007 · checked 2026-10-02
4. cvg-daily-r1-07 · meta-analysis of observational studies
   The meta-analysis of the studies of which outcome is odds ratio for obesity revealed that soup consumption is significantly related to lower odds ratio of obesity in combined data (n=45292, OR: 0.85, 95% CI: 0.79-0.91, p<0.0001), suggesting that soup consumption was inversely correlated with a risk of obesity.
   Physiol Behav, 2020 · checked 2026-10-02
5. cvg-daily-r1-08 · cross-sectional survey
   More than 50% of US population-level dietary sodium intake was contributed by: pizza (5.3%); breads, rolls and buns (4.7%); cold cuts and cured meats (4.6%); soups (4.4%)
   Nutrients, 2023 · checked 2026-10-02
6. cvg-daily-r1-03 · systematic review of randomized controlled trials
   Four studies (n = 342) met inclusion criteria. Interventions commonly included chicken-based soups with vegetables and herbs. Comparators varied (e.g., no treatment, water, or alternative soup). Findings showed modest reductions in symptom severity and illness duration (by 1-2.5 days).
   Nutrients, 2025 · checked 2026-10-02
7. cvg-daily-r1-09 · EU health claim register entry
   POL-HC-7953 Soups -soups gives you a feeling of satiety; -soups will help to fill you up; -soups can delay the onset of hunger; -soups consumed as a starter that are low in energy density and high in volume have an affect on satiety/ satiation. Non-authorised
   EU Register on nutrition and health claims, claim POL-HC-7953, snapshot 2026-09-21 · checked 2026-10-02
8. cvg-daily-r1-10 · EU health claim register entry
   POL-HC-7952 Soups -soups fit in a weight maintenance programme; -soups help to control your body weight; -soups, which are low in energy density and high in volume, are useful as part of a weight management diet; -the inclusion of soups into the daily diet are effective in weight management programmes. Non-authorised
   EU Register on nutrition and health claims, claim POL-HC-7952, snapshot 2026-09-21 · checked 2026-10-02
9. cvg-daily-r1-05 · randomized crossover trial
   Ad libitum water intake throughout steady-state exercise was greater in SOUP than with WATER (1,435 ± 593 vs. 1,163 ± 427 g, respectively; p < .03).
   Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab, 2013 · checked 2026-10-02
10. cvg-daily-r1-06 · randomized controlled trial
    Despite no significant changes in body composition were observed in the intervention group, compared to the usual diet, those who received protein-enriched lacto-vegetarian soup supplementation had an improved physical performance including an increase in SPPB score (β = 0.83 [95% CI 0.15-1.51], p = 0.02), a decrease in time to complete the 5 times chair rise test (β = -2.25 [-4.04 to -0.44], p = 0.01).
    J Nutr Health Aging, 2025 · checked 2026-10-02