Pho helps with a cold the way any hot, brothy meal does. You get warm fluid, some protein and a bowl that is easy to eat when you have no appetite. It does nothing to the virus itself, and Mayo Clinic states plainly that no cure for the common cold exists.
The best evidence is about hot liquids in general. A 1978 study in Chest had 15 healthy subjects sip hot chicken soup, and their nasal mucus velocity went from 6.9 to 9.2 mm per minute. Hot water raised it almost as much (Saketkhoo and colleagues).
No clinical trial of pho itself turned up in the sources reviewed, which leaves heat, fluid and aroma as the documented benefit.
Is pho good for a cold?
Yes, as a comfort meal. It gives you hot fluid, protein and aromatic broth while your appetite is low, and your body does the rest of the work as the infection runs its course.
Pho comes from Vietnam and is built on a long-simmered broth with rice noodles, sliced meat and a plate of fresh herbs on the side.
No food cures a cold. Mayo Clinic states there is no cure, and most cases get better without treatment within 7 to 10 days.
The bowl still does a few practical things. The broth is hot and easy to sip slowly through a stuffy nose, and it adds up to a lot of liquid, which helps with hydration. Protein goes down easily when your throat is sore. Ginger, star anise and fresh herbs give it an aroma you can actually smell on a bad day.
The flat rice noodles in pho are soft and mild, so the bowl is easy to finish when solid food feels like work.
Comfort and hydration, not a cure.
How does hot pho broth ease congestion?
Sipping hot broth speeds up mucus movement in the nose for a short time. Some of that comes from the vapor rising off the bowl. The effect fades within 30 minutes.
What the 1978 mucus trial measured
Saketkhoo, Januszkiewicz and Sackner tested 15 healthy subjects and published the results in Chest in 1978. Each person drank hot water, hot chicken soup or cold water, with nasal mucus velocity measured before drinking and again at 5 and 30 minutes afterward.
Sipped hot chicken soup moved mucus from 6.9 to 9.2 mm per minute. Hot water went from 6.2 to 8.4 mm per minute. Cold water did the opposite and dropped it from 7.3 to 4.5 mm per minute.
The hot-liquid gains were measured five minutes after drinking, and by 30 minutes every value had returned to baseline except cold water. Cold water slowed mucus flow, which is a practical reason to skip the iced drink next to your pho.
The straw result and its limit
Chicken soup drunk through a straw, which cuts vapor exposure, still raised mucus velocity (6.4 to 7.8 mm per minute). Hot water through a straw did not. The authors tied the extra effect to aroma sensed at the back of the nose, or to taste.
There was a catch. Nasal airflow resistance did not change significantly at 5 or 30 minutes, so the soup moved mucus faster without measurably opening the airway.
Steam inhalation as a standalone treatment
Leaning over a bowl is not steam therapy, and the evidence on steam itself is mixed. The 2017 Cochrane update (Singh and colleagues) found no clear benefit or harm from heated humidified air delivered by the RhinoTherm device, and graded the evidence as low quality. The 2011 edition of the same review pooled three trials and found symptom relief, but it still advised against routine use.
None of those trials tested a bowl of soup, so they cannot confirm or rule out what pho does at the table.
Does any research test pho itself?
No. No clinical trial of pho as a cold treatment appears in the sources checked for this article, so the evidence people quote comes from studies on hot fluids and on chicken soup.
What the 2000 neutrophil study tested
Stephen Rennard and colleagues at the University of Nebraska Medical Center published “Chicken Soup Inhibits Neutrophil Chemotaxis In Vitro” in Chest in 2000. They exposed neutrophils from healthy, non-smoking volunteers to diluted soup in a lab chamber.
Several soup preparations inhibited neutrophil migration, which the authors read as limited evidence of anti-inflammatory activity. Rennard stressed it was a laboratory experiment and not a trial in sick patients. The active ingredient was never identified.
The recipe was a family chicken soup made with whole hen, wings, onions, sweet potato, parsnips, turnips, carrots, celery stems and parsley. Pho broth is built differently, with bones, charred onion, ginger, star anise, cinnamon and clove.
One more detail from UNMC: plain chicken broth sampled early in the cooking did not inhibit the cells, while the vegetables and the finished soup did. Pho broth is mostly bones and aromatics, so that result does not carry over cleanly.
What transfers to pho and what does not
Heat and vapor carry over. Hot water worked in 1978, so chicken is not required for the nasal effect. Fluid carries over too, and Mayo Clinic lists warm liquids, chicken soup included, for soothing a sore throat and loosening a stuffy nose, along with advice to drink plenty of liquids.
The neutrophil result does not carry over, since it was tested on one chicken and vegetable recipe in a lab dish. Neither does any claim that star anise, ginger or beef broth shortens a cold.
Read side by side, the two studies and the Mayo Clinic guidance give a conclusion none of them states alone. The benefit you can document in pho is heat, fluid and aroma, and the rest is plausible but unproven.
Is chicken pho or beef pho better for a cold?
Chicken pho (pho ga) is the better default. The broth is lighter, the meat is leaner, and the bowl sits closest to the chicken soup the research covers.
Beef pho (pho bo) works once your appetite returns. Linda Nguyen, who runs a pho restaurant in Longview, Texas, told KLTV in 2018 that she serves chicken to sick customers and treats beef pho as the post-recovery bowl.
| Bowl | Broth | Protein | Evidence base |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pho ga | Lighter, chicken bones | Chicken, usually white meat | Heat and fluid only |
| Pho bo | Richer, beef bones | Rare steak, brisket, flank, meatballs | Heat and fluid only |
| Home chicken soup | Chicken stock and vegetables | Chicken | Heat and fluid, plus the 2000 lab study |
Fat is where the two bowls split. Brisket and meatballs add richness, and when you are run down that weight can turn a comforting bowl into a heavy one (see how pho bo and pho ga differ).
Calories swing with bowl size, noodle portion and cut of meat, so check how many calories a typical bowl of pho holds before you compare.
Against Western chicken noodle soup, pho swaps wheat egg noodles for rice noodles, and the chicken-and-vegetable broth for a clear, spiced one. Both deliver hot fluid, which is the part with documented evidence.
Pick chicken while you are sick and save the brisket for the week after.
Do the herbs, spices and chili in pho help a cold?
They help most with flavor and aroma, which matters when a cold dulls your taste. None of them has trial evidence for shortening a cold, and chili cuts both ways.
Much of what feels like lost taste during a cold is lost smell, because a blocked nose keeps aroma from reaching the smell receptors. Strongly aromatic toppings give a dulled palate something to hold onto, and anything that gets you to eat counts for something.
Ginger, star anise, lime and cilantro
Ginger adds a sharp, warm aroma, star anise is the licorice note in the broth, lime brings acid and a little vitamin C, and cilantro is a fresh herb that offers aroma and not much else.
A 2025 systematic review of ginger for acute respiratory infections (Mbaoji and colleagues, University of Southampton) found only one eligible randomized trial, in people with COVID-19, and concluded that more high-quality randomized trials are needed. Ginger has a reputation for colds that the trial record has not caught up with.
Lime is mostly there for taste. Cochrane’s 2013 review found that vitamin C started after symptoms begin showed no consistent effect on cold duration or severity, so a squeeze of lime is not a dose.
No cold-specific trial turned up for star anise or cilantro, so treat both as part of the flavor and not the treatment.
Chili and hot sauce
Capsaicin makes the nose run, a non-allergic reflex called gustatory rhinitis. Running is not the same as open, and none of the research found for this article tested chili in a bowl of pho.
For nasal congestion, chili thins mucus and keeps it moving, and the heat and aroma make a plain broth easier to finish. For a sore throat it works against you. Chili oil and sriracha sting inflamed tissue on contact, and lime acid stings the same way.
Jake Stevens, chef-owner of Leeward in Portland, Maine, told the Bangor Daily News in February 2026 that he packs his pho with herbs, hot sauce and lime when he has a head cold. That is a cook’s habit and not a trial result, and it fits a stuffy nose better than a raw throat.
Pick the topping for the symptom you have, not the one you like.
How much sodium is in a bowl of pho?
USDA lists 894 mg of sodium in a 245 g cup of pho with meat, and restaurant bowls are bigger than one cup. A bowl three times that size passes the daily limit on its own.
That 894 mg figure comes from USDA FoodData Central (survey record FDC 2707124). The upper limit for adults is 2,300 mg per day, according to the American Heart Association and the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2025-2030, which kept the 2,300 mg limit for ages 14 and up. The American Heart Association’s ideal limit for most adults is lower, at 1,500 mg per day.
The USDA record describes an average preparation and does not split chicken pho from beef pho. Real bowls swing with the kitchen, the portion size and the sauces, which is why per-bowl estimates in print disagree.
Anyone tracking the sodium in a bowl of pho should count the table sauces too, since hoisin and fish sauce are salt-based.
The two benchmarks are not one target. The Dietary Guidelines set 2,300 mg as the limit, while the American Heart Association treats 1,500 mg as the goal to move toward.
For a healthy adult with a cold, the first number is the reasonable ceiling. Anyone with high blood pressure should use the figure their clinician gave them.
That is the real trade-off with the broth. It delivers fluid and salt in the same sip.
How to order or make pho when you have a cold
Order a modest bowl, pick toppings by your main symptom, and leave some broth behind. At home, a low-sodium stock with ginger and star anise gives you a workable bowl without the all-day simmer.
Ordering at a restaurant
- Choose the small or regular size, not the large
- Eat as soon as the bowl arrives, while the broth is still steaming
- Add chili and fresh herbs for a stuffy nose, or skip hot sauce and lime for a raw throat
- Go light on hoisin and fish sauce
- Leave part of the broth behind and drink water for the rest of your fluid
If you have never built a bowl yourself, a guide on how to eat pho with the herb plate and sauces covers the order of operations.
Making a quick bowl at home
Sodium is the one variable you fully control in a home kitchen. Start with a low-sodium chicken or bone stock and simmer sliced fresh ginger and star anise in it. Cooked rice noodles go in at the end, then herbs, plus chili if your throat allows.
What goes wrong
Lukewarm takeout is the common one. Broth that cools in a bag loses the heat that does the work.
Sauce stacking is another, since hoisin, fish sauce and sriracha all pile onto a broth that is already seasoned. And clearing the bowl out of habit makes little sense with a cold, so stop when you are full.
When pho is a poor choice during a cold
Change or skip the bowl if you follow a sodium limit for kidney disease, high blood pressure or heart failure, or if nausea is your main symptom. No bowl replaces a doctor when warning signs show up.
Sodium-restricted diets
The Indian Health Service advises anyone with kidney disease, high blood pressure or heart disease to ask a provider what sodium amount is right for them. The National Kidney Foundation explains why: when kidneys do not work well, sodium and fluid can build up, raising blood pressure and causing swelling.
The American Heart Association adds a caution of its own. Its 1,500 mg goal may not suit everyone, and it notes there is some evidence that eating less than that could be harmful for certain people with congestive heart failure, so the number to follow is the one your care team set.
Nausea, gluten and a touchy stomach
A rich, spicy bowl can make a queasy stomach worse, and whether pho settles an upset stomach depends on how heavy the bowl is. Ginger is the ingredient with the better record for nausea, though its best-supported use is in pregnancy. A 2020 Nutrients review of 109 randomized trials found consistent support for easing nausea and vomiting in pregnancy, and only 43 of those trials met its high-quality criterion.
Rice noodles are gluten-free, but check the label on hoisin and other soy-based sauces if you avoid gluten.
Symptoms soup will not fix
CDC and NHS guidance set different timelines for when a cold needs a clinician.
- The CDC points to a fever that lasts longer than 4 days
- It also points to symptoms that last more than 10 days without improvement
- Symptoms such as fever or cough that improve and then return or worsen are on the CDC’s list as well
- The NHS says to get help if symptoms do not improve after 3 weeks, or if they get suddenly worse
Soup is for comfort. A fever that will not break is for a clinician.
Pho and Colds FAQ
Is vegetarian pho okay for a cold?
Yes. The documented benefits come from heat, fluid and aroma, so a vegetable-broth bowl keeps all three.
You lose the protein, and it is worth asking whether the kitchen seasons the broth with fish sauce.
Can you eat pho with the flu?
Yes, as comfort food and a source of fluid. It does not treat influenza.
The NHS notes that flu tends to be more severe than a cold, and the CDC advises talking to a healthcare professional about antiviral treatment.
Does pho help a cough?
Hot broth soothes an irritated throat, but no study tested pho against a cough.
A cough can outlast the rest of a cold, and the NHS advises seeing a GP if one lasts more than 3 weeks.
Can kids eat pho when they are sick?
Children who eat solid food usually can. Serve the broth warm, not scalding, and leave out the chili.
Sodium needs a closer look, because the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2025-2030 set a lower sodium limit for children under 14 than the adult figure.
Ask a pediatrician before giving it to an infant.
How often can you eat pho while sick?
No guideline sets a number. Sodium is the limiter, not the cold.
One bowl a day works if the rest of your meals stay low in salt, and swapping in a homemade low-sodium broth on alternate days keeps the total down.
What to Do Alongside Pho During a Cold
Rest and plain water come first, with pho added as timed relief. The CDC’s treatment advice for a cold starts with rest and fluids.
The timing follows from the numbers. Hot broth speeds nasal mucus for under 30 minutes, while a cold lasts 7 to 10 days. One bowl eaten when congestion peaks, such as before bed, uses that short window better than a bowl at every meal.
So the order runs rest and sleep, then water between meals, then one timed bowl of pho.
The trade-off is sodium. A second large bowl in one day needs a low-sodium broth to stay under 2,300 mg. Homemade broth makes that easy, and how to store pho covers keeping a batch for the days ahead.
This position stands as of October 2026, and a randomized trial of pho would change it.
