Wives' tales for preventing and fighting colds and flu. Which are true and which aren't?

CLEVELAND -- There are plenty of wives' tales for preventing and fighting colds and flu. Which are true and which aren't?

Chicken Soup: Plenty of moms have made chicken soup to help fight off a cold's effects and, it turns out, mom knows best. "Chicken soup works!" says Roy Buchinsky, MD, Director of Wellness at University Hospitals (UH) Case Medical Center. "It works as an anti-inflammatory, it boosts the immune system, and can help with nasal congestion." Chicken soup workst: TRUE!

Feed a Cold, Starve a Fever: "You should eat whether you have a fever or a cold," says Dr. Buchinsky. "Eating enhances your immunity to fight off infections." Dr. Buchinsky says before modern medicine, people believed colds thrived when your body temperature was low and therefore your immunity was low so eating was recommended to increase a body's internal thermostat and raise immunity. That part of the equation has merit. People also believed by not eating, you could lower the body's temperature to lower a fever. That part of the equation is incorrect. Dr. Buchinsky says eating healthy helps regardless of whether you have a cold or a fever. FALSE!

Vitamin C: "Studies have shown there is no benefit of vitamin C in the normal population in preventing colds," says Dr. Buchinsky. It might help, however, with the elderly, the immune-suppressed, and for people with poor diets. MOSTLY FALSE!

Sound bites from Roy Buchinsky, MD, Director of Wellness at UH Case Medical Center in Cleveland, Ohio, and related b-roll are also available for download on http://news.uhhospitals.org/.