As the icy road and frosty window season settles in, my favourite thing to do is curl up to a steaming bowl of soup. You see, I love soup. It makes me glow. It gets me hot. It brings me back to a carefree childhood, with soup as my blankie, but it turns out my obsession is neither narcissistic, nor mine alone. Carmie Nearing, the owner and chef of Spoon Fed Soup, believes that soup’s power to comfort may lie in its most obvious property — warmth. “Particularly in northern climates, the warmth of a bowl of soup is so nourishing, and it’s a comfort food that is actually good for you.”

Dr. Dawn Johnston, a professor at the University of Calgary who teaches a food culture class, agrees with Nearing’s assertion. She says that soup is appealing because of its “warmth, both in terms of temperature, and also the feelings that go along with it.”

The psychology of comfort, and therefore comfort food, can be understood by drawing parallels to the way our brains react to music, according to Dr. Jon Amundson, a Calgary psyhologist. Extensive studies show that music affects parts of the brain that trigger primitive reaction, emotional response and the intellect. Similarly, eating soup can activate emotional associations, especially those stemming from childhood. The more positive your prior experiences, the more you appreciate the hot broth now.

Emotional associations could explain why people turn to soup when they’re not feeling well. “When you think about it, soup is a food that we often associate with being sick,” explains Johnston of how soup has long been considered restorative. Soup is often made for you by a doting parent, or recommended by doctors as soothing, which provides reinforcement to its claims of healing properties.

In 2000, a laboratory study conducted by American pulmonary specialist Dr. Stephen Rennard showed that homemade chicken soup actually reduced the migration of neutrophils (white blood cells), which cause fluid buildup and congestion during an immune system attack against invading viruses. Store-bought soups were also tested and, surprisingly, a third showed better results than the homemade version. Despite the affirmative news, it is the only study to date and draws no definite scientific conclusions. Further studies, especially of the clinical variety, need to be carried out, but without the ability to patent chicken soup’s countless variations, the high cost of scientific research is prohibitive.

Is it enough then to believe that soup can heal you physiologically, even if there is a dearth of scientific studies proving so? Both Johnston and Amundson think so. “If you believe that what you’re doing is going to work, you’re more inclined to be responsive to any potential physiological changes that could be happening,” says Johnston.

There could be benefits from making a pot of soup, too. “Soup simmers and you can’t rush it,” says Johnston, which doesn’t mean it’s difficult, but it does require attention. “Making soup almost forces you to slow down. When you make soup for someone, they know that you’ve invested time and care, which subsequently gets transferred to the person that’s going to eat it.” Likewise, the act of eating a hot bowl of soup also forces a zen-like patience — unless you’re fond of burning your tongue.

The melding flavours in your stockpot can tap into a very powerful and primitive sense — your smell. The olfactory sense is a direct channel to your emotions and that — along with sight, touch and taste, makes eating “so compelling,” says Amundson. He explains that comfort food works on a variety of levels to soothe; physically, to satisfy hunger, as well as emotionally, to affect your mood at that given time.

If you’re all about eating the soup, then you might want to devour the 60-plus varieties of soup that Spoon Fed Soup offers. Its menu rotates weekly, and local ingredients are sourced when available. The soups range from a nutrient-rich curried red lentil; hearty chilis and chowders; to the classic chicken noodle soup, which features local, antibiotic-free, free-range chicken. “I’ll often get phone calls from people with sick relatives, asking for the chicken noodle soup,” says Nearing. “People swear that it makes them feel better.”

If you’re still not convinced that soup is a panacea for emotional and physical ailments, you might be in the minority. That is why Seinfeld’s Soup Nazi’s “no soup for you!” catchphrase is so memorable, appalling and funny. “It’s the ultimate insult to be denied soup,” laughs Johnston. “I don’t think it would have worked the same if it was a Sandwich Nazi.”

On the comforting concoction’s universal appeal, Nearing says, “Soup spans generations and cultures.” Spoon Fed’s simmered and delivered soups tap into a demographic that is “all over the place — young families, older couples, single moms, stockbrokers. It’s great,” Nearing says. “It shows me that people just love soup.”