Photo: @deepikapadukone/ Instagram

Ask anyone what their comfort food is, and you'll usually get an answer that has nothing to do with fancy plating or trending recipes. This love for comfort recipes goes back to the days of childhood: sitting and filling the stomach to the brim during the summer vacations, be it eating curd rice, dal-chawal, or a hot slice of pizza.For Deepika Padukone, who recently shattered her bit revealed that her comfort food has always been the humble South Indian combination of rasam and rice.She's spoken about her love for it many times, but once she posted an adorable animated video that showed exactly why this simple dish feels like home. The clip shows a girl at a fancy restaurant, scanning a menu full of burgers, pastas, and chicken dishes, before spotting rasam-rice and lighting up instantly. It's the kind of small moment a lot of people will relate to, but beyond the nostalgia, there's actually science behind why this everyday South Indian recipe of Rasam rice deserves more credit than it usually gets.Here are some hidden health benefits of incorporating Rasam in your diet according to a review published in Pharmacognosy.

A natural remedy for fever and colds

Long before packaged cold medicine existed, South Indian households were already leaning on rasam whenever someone came down with a fever. Rasam has traditionally been used as a home remedy for the common cold, and tribal communities in Tamil Nadu's Krishnagiri district have reportedly relied on it to manage fever, cold and diarrhoea. The same review notes it has also been described as an effective antidote for flu-like symptoms.ID@undefined Caption not available.ID@undefined Caption not available.

It helps keep blood sugar levels in check

Rasam isn't just comforting; it may also be diabetic-friendly. South Indian meals containing rasam significantly helped control the glycemic and triacylglycerol response after eating. Another cited study observed a meaningful drop in blood sugar levels among forty adults aged 30 to 60 who consumed rasam daily. Researchers have pointed to the tomatoes and spice blend in rasam as the likely reason behind this effect.

It could support healthy iron levels

Anaemia is a widespread concern in India, and interestingly, rasam has been studied as part of the solution. The review reports that dietary interventions using rasam enriched with the functional food Spirulina noticeably improved blood-iron markers, including haemoglobin and serum iron, in anaemic patients. A separate study found that more than 70% of the iron in an iron-fortified, tamarind-based rasam was actually absorbed by the body, compared to just 30-37% in a regular version, making it a genuinely useful everyday source of iron.

For boosting lactation

Rasam's usefulness doesn't stop there. It has traditionally been given to nursing mothers in the evenings to help boost milk secretion, and is also commonly eaten during and after pregnancy among tribal communities in coastal Andhra Pradesh. On top of that, researchers have recorded notable antimicrobial activity in rasam against bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus, E. coli, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, adding one more reason this everyday dish has stuck around for generations.