Q. I really enjoyed your radio show about home remedies. I’d like to add my voice to those who enjoy and tout the benefits of chicken soup. But I want to mention a very special kind — the chicken noodle soup that you can get in Chinese restaurants and carry-outs. The broth is excellent, and the chicken bits and long noodles are a delight. A bowl or two of this soup seems to mellow the symptoms of colds and flu and produce a sense of well-being.

I really came to appreciate the soup when I caught COVID-19 early in September. It was one of the few things that I could taste. Adding a snipped-up green onion to my chicken noodle soup seems to boost the soup’s benefit. And it really adds to the flavor. Chicken soup is a wonderful healing food.

A. We certainly agree with you on the benefits of chicken soup to help people feel better as they recover from an upper respiratory tract infection. Scientists have not studied this venerable home remedy in depth. However, a quarter of a century ago, researchers published a study demonstrating some anti-inflammatory properties of chicken soup (Chest, October 2000).

A few years later, an expert in evidence-based medicine for influenza urged people to use safe treatments for symptom relief (Current Infectious Disease Reports, May 2002). As he pointed out, few things are safer than chicken soup.

We can’t speak to the medicinal power of slices of scallion, but we agree that they taste good. Scientists in China take the flavor of chicken soup seriously and have developed an ultrasonic-assisted stewing technique to maximize the taste (Food Chemistry X, Jan. 15, 2025).

You can learn more about treating colds and flu and get Joe’s mother’s recipe for chicken soup in our “eGuide to Colds, Coughs & the Flu.” This online resource may be found under the Health eGuides tab at www.PeoplesPharmacy.com.

Q. I had heard for years about putting soap in bed as a remedy for leg cramps. However, I hadn’t needed it until recently.

Not long ago, I started having insomnia several nights a week, along with foot and leg cramps. So I got a bar of lavender soap and put it in bed near my feet. It made my sheets smell heavenly.

I have not had even one little foot or leg cramp since putting the soap there. And my insomnia is now non-existent! I wake up well-rested. I don’t know why it works, but it really does!

A. Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) has been used in aromatherapy for centuries, if not millennia.

A review in Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine (March 14, 2013) reinforces the use of this essential oil to overcome insomnia.

An analysis of 11 studies found that breathing the aroma of lavender can help ease anxiety and its symptoms (Healthcare, Nov. 17, 2023).

EDITOR’S NOTE: In their column, Joe and Teresa Graedon answer letters from readers. Write to them in care of King Features, 628 Virginia Drive, Orlando, FL 32803, or email them via their website: www.PeoplesPharmacy.com. Their newest book is “Top Screwups Doctors Make and How to Avoid Them.”