• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

Michelle's blog

Food allergy and food intolerance, freefrom foods, electrosensitivity, this and that...

  • Home
  • Blog
  • About
  • FreeFrom Food Awards
  • Foods Matter
  • Walks & Gardens
  • Salon Music
  • Home
  • Blog
  • About
  • FreeFrom Food Awards
  • Foods Matter
  • Walks & Gardens
  • Salon Music

Snow, light, SAD, impending ‘flu – and chicken soup….

10/02/2012 //  by Michelle Berridale Johnson//  3 Comments

Although the snow that is currently ‘whiting out’ a good deal of the country should, in theory, be bright and full of light, it only really works when the sky is clear and the sun reflecting back the whiteness. For most of this week there has, instead, been a dirty grey blanket covering the sky and sparkling reflections nowhere to be seen.

My Danish friend, Sinnet Morch, who has written for us about SAD, says that she grew up on a flat, Danish island ‘where the land was covered in deep snow for three of four months of the year. Before I started school I was let out in the garden during the best hours of light from ten to one. I built an igloo and on the dark days pushed my sledge into it, curled up on it and slept. When the sky was clear and the sun visible I placed my sledge in the middle of the lawn and lay on it staring into the pale world with wide-open eyes. Many animals know they need extra minerals and seek out deposits in the ground and regularly have a healthy lick. I think that my light-seeking then was a variation of the same instinct.’

For those of us for whom lying in the snow is not an option, modern science has produced ‘light therapy lamps’ which mimic the sun for us in the depths of winter. (For more on what is available see the bottom of Sinnet’s article.) But I have just been reading a post on Dr Briffa’s site suggesting that ‘ear lamps’ may be equally effective in getting the vital rays to the brain as the skull around the ear is very thin thus allowing better penetration. He quotes a pilot study which was very successful, but, because it failed to include a placebo group, needs to be replicated to be sure.

He give a link to a Swedish (ooops, sorry….. Finnish) company called Valkee  making ‘ear lamps’ which he feared were very expensive although, at £185 each, they are not that much more than many therapeutic lights.

As an additional remedy to extra light, Sinnet also recommends chicken soup – in her case, a very specific Hungarian chicken soup for which the recipe can be found here.

Although I do not belong to the Jewish tradition of Mama’s chicken soup, I certainly subscribe to its efficacy – not only for improving your mood but for knocking an impending cold or dose of ‘flu on the head! Well, maybe it was pure chance but certainly the last twice that I have made it  for those who feared that they were ‘coming down’, they both made a miraculous recovery.

My chicken soup is, naturally, totally ‘freefrom’ and is very simple, the only requirements being an organic (or at least freefrange) chicken and a fridge wells stocked with vegetable remains! Below is the very last of the last brew…. And, before anyone objects to the little globules of fat on the top….. The fat is an essential element and is what gives the soup both it flavour and its goodness. A good Jewish chicken soup will be judged by the amount of glistening and delicious chicken fat it incorporates.

Put chicken in large pot and cover it generously (well over the top) with filtered water with a teaspoonful of rough sea salt – I use the wonderful gray, damp salt from the Brittany coast.

Then add some of any or all of the following, scrubbed, chopped fairly roughly but not left so large that you will not be able to get the bit on your spoon… It really does not matter how much you add as, if you run out of space, you can always transfer to a larger saucepan…. And if your fridge contains some vegetable goodies that I have not mentioned, do not hesitate to include!

onions
garlic
leeks
carrots
parsnips
turnip
mushrooms
celery
celeriac
tomatoes
broccoli stalks
fine green beans
Savoy cabbage (not too much)
sliced Brussel sprouts (not too many)
spinach or other green leaves
parsley/parsley stalks chopped up
bay leaves (lots)
black pepper corns
handful of yellow split peas or green lentils

Bring all very slowly to the boil, then cover and simmer very gently for a minimum of 1 1/2 hours but for up to 3 hours. Adjust the seasoning to taste – and eat! By this time the chicken will have entirely disintegrated so you do need to take care to remove the bones as you go – but this is a relatively small price to pay.
And, of course, the remains just get better as the days go on – and you can add extra liquid as needed.

There are those who feel that it is improved by adding wine or stock to the cooking liquid but I actually do not agree, preferring the fresh, clean flavour  of just the chicken and vegetables.

 

Category: Alternative/Complementary Health, Dairy-free, Food, FreeFrom Food, Gluten-free, Nutrition, RecipesTag: chicken soup, chicken soup to combat 'flu, Denmark, depression, Dr. John Briffa, Freefrom food, igloo and sledge, Jewish chicken soup, Light therapy, light therapy boxes, light therapy into the ear, SAD, SAD lamps, snow, Valkee, Vegetables

Previous Post: « Are Macdonalds french fries safe? Here we go with labeling again…
Next Post: Judging the 2012 FreeFrom Food Awards – fascinating and rewarding »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. James

    10/02/2012 at 14:47

    Chicken Soup is often referred to as ‘Jewish Penicillin’. Offered a choice I know which I would prefer!

  2. Timo Ahopelto

    12/02/2012 at 11:59

    The Finns and Swedes have a love/hate relationship, and quoting Valkee being a Swedish company (sigh) is relatively improper. 😉 We come from Finland!

  3. Michelle

    12/02/2012 at 13:31

    Oops – so sorry….. Have corrected!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Recent Posts

  • Colliding with a new reality – the hazards of low vision
  • Call for adult allergy sufferers
  • The vegan/allergy labelling issue
  • A gluten free Christmas just could be delicious – not a penance!
  • A food fad won’t kill you – an allergy will

Search this blog

ARCHIVES

Blogroll

  • Allergy Insight
  • Better brains, naturally
  • For Ever FreeFrom
  • Free From (gluten)
  • Freefrom Food Awards
  • Gluten-free Mrs D
  • Natural Health Worldwide
  • Pure Health Clinic
  • Skins Matter
  • The Helminthic Therapy Wiki
  • Truly Gluten Free
  • What Allergy?

TOPICS

A food fad won’t kill you – an allergy will

There has been a predictable outcry in the allergy world this week’s in response to Rachel Johnson’s piece in Thursday’s Evening Standard on ‘dietary requirements’ and food fads. Being charitable, I am assuming that she has never suffered from or lived with someone with a food allergy. However, I do have some sympathy with her …

Bioplastics – a solution or part of the problem?

Everyday Plastic is a social enterprise group using accessible learning and publicity campaigns to reduce the amount of plastics used daily in our society. It was founded by its current director Daniel Webb who, having moved to Margate in Kent in 2016, was horrified to discover that there were no plastic recycling options on offer.  …

FreeFrom Christmas Awards – the Winners

Since they were launched two years ago the FreeFrom Christmas Awards have been a great success. And how lucky are ‘freefrom-ers’ these days!  From Advent calendars to gifts, party food to Christmas dinner, there is no longer any need for them to miss out. Indeed, the whole family can happily eat freefrom and never know …

Do not extradite Julian Assange to the US

Julian Assange is being sought by the current US administration for publishing US government documents which exposed war crimes and human rights abuses. The politically motivated charges represent an unprecedented attack on press freedom and the public’s right to know – seeking to criminalise basic journalistic activity. Assange is facing a 175-year sentence for publishing …

What to believe – applying critical thought

For the average citizen evaluating the claims made for cure all – or even improve all – health products and procedures has always been difficult. Not only is it an area in which we have minimal expertise but most of us have a vested interest in finding a miracle intervention that will solve our health …

Could wireless monitoring devices be killing racehorses?

Regular readers may remember that back in August last year I alerted you to a posting on Arthur Firstenberg’s Cellphone Task Force site about phone masts and bird flu. Could there be a connection between the fact that the two wildlife sites in Holland and Northern France which had suffered catastrophic bird flu deaths were …

Site Footer

Copyright © 2025 · Michelle's Blog · Michelle Berridale Johnson · Site design by DigitalJen·