Yon is a student at USC who I am close friends with. He is originally from Israel, and this is his first year in America. He speaks with a thick Israeli accent, and jumped at the opportunity to share his culture’s folklore with me.
Performance: “So one of the most common remedies is like chicken soup. So it’s, it’s like chicken broth essentially. Very traditional jewish stuff. But what I know… I know this stuff….works. Just has all those like sodium and vitamins in it, and it cures like every sickness. Other than that the big thing is like tea… like hot tea with mint, honey, and lemon juice. All three. That helps to make you better too and it works.”
Response: Soups seem to be folk remedies that often cure illnesses such as the common cold. I was shocked by how adamant Yon was about the success rate of his mother’s traditional jewish chicken soup. He looked at me like he was telling me the greatest secret I had ever known.
For a published study of this folk remedy check out this link to a Chicago tribune article: