Is Soup Really Good Food?

The eminent nutritionist Dr. Francis Pottenger believed that stocks, broths, and gelatins are easy to digest because they contain “water-loving” or hydrophilic proteins. Most of the proteins in cooked food are hydrophobic, that is, they repel water. Proteins that attract water are more completely digested in the stomach, more likely to contribute amino acids to the hepatic portal vein and into circulation, and less likely to cause allergies.

There is also a beneficial interaction between the colloidal proteins in various kinds of soup stocks and the immune system. The protein particles in broths, stock, and gelatin repel neutrophils, white blood cells that cause various kinds of inflammation. There may also be a somewhat more complicated interaction between large protein particles in soups and broths and another part of the immune system, the T-helper (Th) cells.

The Th cells are created in the thymus gland. These cells initiate or suppress the body’s immune reactions and regulate many other immune cells. There are two types of Th cells in the body after early childhood, Th1 and Th2. Th1 cells promote cell-mediated immunity. That is, they encourage white blood cells to attack and “swallow” infectious microorganisms. Th2 cells promote humoral immunity. They encourage white blood cells to emit toxic proteins that destroy infectious microorganisms without actually coming into contact with the pathogen.

Th1 cells are like a cop on the beat. They incarcerate criminal microorganisms they happen to meet. Th2 cells are more like the armies of Attila or Genghis Khan. They attack cells indiscriminately. When the body produces too few Th1 cells and too many Th2 cells, the result can be autoimmunity, conditions such as asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, certain aspects of AIDS and tuberculosis, multiple sclerosis, scleroderma, or Sjögren’s syndrome.

When the immune system encounters large, hydrophilic proteins, it is more likely to activate Th1 cells, the police with the paddy wagon, than Th2 cells, the heavy artillery firing from behind the lines. Increasing the activity of Th1 cells in the throat and the digestive tract protects against infection, traps allergenic proteins, and moderates the risk of autoimmune reactions. Interestingly, all kinds of large, hydrophilic particles seem have this effect, including some we would call “dirt.” But I recommend soup, broth, stock, and gelatin.