Which is better beef broth or chicken broth?

For a cold, chicken broth is better.

I’d go with chicken. Chicken is a bit easier on you. Beef would be ok, but it probably harder to accept, tastewise.

Chicken

If you’re experiencing vomiting or diarrhea you can drink either broth, but it is probably best to dilute it if you’re having trouble keeping stuff “in.” Sip very slowly, don’t scarf it down, or drink it fast.

Welcome to Fluther, follow @ANef_is_Enuf ‘s advice and feel better soon…

Try ginger tea or flat ginger ale instead.

chicken broth is the one.

Chicken broth + sprite is what I always had when I was…. 5.

Chicken broth is better than beef broth for almost any use. In fact, Cook’s Illustrated often recommends using chicken broth in beef recipes because most commercial beef broth is so terrible!

iirc, it’s also easier to extract flavor from chicken than it is from an equal amount of beef because of the marrow in chicken bones? Or maybe the USDA doesn’t require as much beef per parts water than chicken? Maybe not.

Anyway, even chicken broth at the store is still pretty bad. Unless you’re making your own chicken broth, you might want to try the ginger idea. Ginger really does help upset stomachs!

@digitalimpression we used chicken broth and ginger ale. Which kind of picks up on what the ginger crew are saying. To this day, when I’m sick to my stomach, only ginger ale will do.

@submariner Are you from England? I haven’t heard anyone suggest flat ginger ale since I lived there. Of course, they said it had to be hot. It works, too.

No, I’m from Michigan. We have a brand of ginger ale (Vernor’s) here that is more gingery than the usual mass-market stuff (e.g., Canada Dry), but not as spicy as the niche-market stuff (e.g., Stewart’s). Some of us like it, some of us mainly drink it when we’re sick. As for it being flat, I recall a couple of occasions where a doctor advised me or someone in my family to stir the bubbles out if we were suffering from nausea or vomiting along with an upset stomach.

@submariner Yes, the ginger ale that they have in England is super-strong, too. If it doesn’t kill you, it makes you stronger, right?

I know Vernors. I prefer the milder stuff when I am sick. I also like the bubbles because they help me burp. One of my problems when I am nauseous is that I can’t burb the air up and doing that gives me relief. If I can’t burp, I’ll throw up. So the bubbles in the gingerale help with that problem.

@wundayatta The hot, flat, kick-ass strong ginger ale is for a cold. I would shudder to think what it would do to your stomach if you had the flu!

For a cold, always put blackberry flavored brandy in tea.

If you really want to kick a cold, take a shot of peppermint schnapps.