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Easy 20-minute Bone Broth Chicken Noodle Soup

Think back to your childhood. If there was one guarantee when you got sick, it was that Grandma would be making you a big batch of chicken noodle soup. But does chicken noodle soup have any actual impact on impending sniffles? According to UPMC, when you’re sick, your immune system can receive support to help fight infections from standard cold and over-the-counter medicines. However, in some cases, the nutrients you get from a big bowl of chicken noodle soup can give additional aid to that support system. Studies have shows that the anti-inflammatory effects from the ingredients in chicken noodle soup can help ease cold symptoms, while the warm broth can clear nasal congestion. So while it may not be a miracle cure-all, chicken noodle soup makes a great meal when you’re feeling under the weather because it’s packed with nutrients. They are easy to digest, soothing to the throat…

Americans urged to get flu shots after last year’s 80,000 death toll reported

Eighty thousand people died from the flu last year — that’s more than the number of people killed in car accidents, gun violence, or opioid overdoses. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is urging people to get flu shots early this year, especially those who are vulnerable or those with weakened immune systems including pregnant women, children, and older adults. The new data comes from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which said last year was the deadliest flu season in more than four decades. Flu experts knew it was going to be a bad season, but the tally was nearly twice the estimate health officials originally projected. The high mortality rate last winter was driven by a type of flu that tends to land more people in the hospital and cause more deaths. Making the situation worse, the flu vaccine didn’t work very well. Despite the limitations of…

Major retailers recalling 207 million eggs after salmonella outbreak

More than 200 million eggs are being recalled after the Food and Drug Administration said they could be contaminated with salmonella. The agency said there have been 35 reported cases of illness, including 11 hospitalizations. No deaths have been reported. The FDA said that the outbreak could be traced to a single facility in Hyde County, North Carolina belonging to Rose Acre Farms in Seymour, Indiana. The farm is now recalling nearly 207,000,000 eggs that were sold at a variety of retailers and restaurants including Walmart, Publix, Food Lion and Waffle House. The recalled eggs were distributed in Colorado, Florida, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia. These are the affected egg brands: Coburn Farms Country Daybreak Crystal Farms Food Lion Glenview Great Value Nelms Sunshine Farms Waffle House For a full list of products, visit the FDA’s website here.  Salmonella is a bacteria infection that can cause…

Stay away from Romaine Lettuce, report warns

Skip out that Caesar salad for a while. An E. coli outbreak that hit the United States late last week has been traced to romaine lettuce grown in certain regions of the country. The outbreak has affected 11 states so far, with a total of 35 cases reported, resulting in twenty-two hospitalizations. Luckily, no deaths have been reported. On April 13, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a statement advising consumers to find out the origin of their romaine before buying or eating. The lettuce causing concern was linked to Yuma, Arizona. The CDC reports that only lettuce from this region needs to be avoided or thrown away. However, just to be safe, Consumer Reports advises considers to avoid buying romaine altogether — at least until the outbreak is over. “Consumer Reports’ experts believe that it could be difficult for consumers to determine where the romaine they purchase is…

Choosing this seat on the airplane will help you avoid getting sick, study says

If you dread stepping onboard an airplane for fear of getting sick, then you might want to double check your seat assignment. When it comes to immunity, nothing is a guarantee, but apparently you can increase your odds of avoiding sickness if you select a window seat and remain there for the whole flight. According to a study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, travelers moving about the cabin is more of a cause for concern than the recirculated air that gets such a bad rap. Since your seat assignment largely determines the likelihood you’ll get up from your seat, it also determines your chance of coming in contact with germs that will make you ill. People sitting in the aisle seats are 80% likely to walk about the cabin, while only 62% of middle seats and 43% of window seat customers do the same. So if you…

Here’s how long you’re contagious with the flu virus

If you’ve spent the last couple days cooped up inside your house fighting the flu and dozing off to Netflix, you may be wondering when you can return to civilization. You’re eager to do something constructive, yet you wouldn’t want to put your family or co-workers at risk for infection. So just how long are you contagious? Most people go back to work when their worst symptoms start to retreat, but that’s probably a little too early.  The CDC says you can be contagious the day before you start feeling sick and up to seven days after. Children, elderly and those with weak immune systems can be contagious even longer. Those unpleasant symptoms are actually the result of your immune system fighting the flu virus. For starters, your body increasing in temperature, resulting in a fever because the flu virus doesn’t spread as well at higher temperatures. And that mucus has…

This is why your nose runs when it’s cold outside

Ever notice that your nose gets a bit runny when temperatures drop outside? There’s a reason for that. For many, a runny nose is an unfortunate part of winter. About 50 to 90 percent of people get a runny nose when it’s cold outside. But it’s not a sign that you’re getting sick, it’s just a side effect of your body warming up cold, outside air before passing it on into your lungs. It’s called “cold-induced rhinitis”, or “skier nose”, and it’s a completely healthy — albeit annoying — part of your body’s ability to regulate the humidity of the you breath. It’s the job of your nose to make sure that the air you breath is warm and humid so that it doesn’t irritate your lungs. When breathing in freezing temperatures, the air in the back of the nose always hovers around 79ºF (and as high as 86ºF), while the humidity is usually 100 percent,…