Best Diet for a Cold

If you are suffering from a cold then it is important to do everything in your power to combat its effects in order to get back to top health as quickly as possible. This means taking medication and getting lots of rest as per your doctors' orders (this is what they likely should have told you at least) but it can also be affected by what you eat and drink, and making sure you get the right food and drink can help you to recover more quickly and get back to full productivity. Here is a short guide on what to eat and drink and how it can help you to feel better.

First of all it is highly important to drink a lot of water. The main reason for this is so that you can 'flush' your system of the virus and to fight dehydration which can give your body something else to combat while you are already dealing with the virus – a fever can also make you sweat a lot meaning you need more water than usual. At the same time if your cold has come with a fever, then drinking cold water is a great way to cool your body down and to stop yourself from burning up which is very important. On the other hand though, drinking tea can also be a good idea as it warms you up if you are feeling cold, and is also a diuretic further encouraging you to flush your system. Warm milk can have the same effect but will also encourage the production of melatonin which will send you to sleep and is also highly soothing when you are feeling ill.

The other top priority is to get lots of vitamins and minerals. These will help your body to fight the disease due to their affect on the immune system, and particularly vitamin C can help boost the immune system and help you get healthier, though all of the vitamins play some role here, as do antioxidants which are also known to help boost the immune system. Something like an orange contains particularly high quantities of vitamin C and is also very soft (great for a sore throat) and very refreshing. However the acidity may be a bit much for some people to handle when they are feeling ill, so a vitamin supplement can be a great way to get the vitamins without having to eat anything heavy or citrus-y when you are unwell. Another great way to get your vitamins and minerals is to have a smoothy by putting lots of different fruits high in vitamin C into a blender and then drinking them together. Similarly you can make a soup this way such as a tomato soup which will also have the added benefit of being very warming and very soothing for your throat.

Another point to consider when you have a cold or flu is that a fever can make you sweat a lot. As mentioned this can dehydrate you, but another problem it can cause is that you lose a lot of your body salts which are important for your health generally. This can be replaced with anything salty, and it does not hurt to add a little extra salt to your soup and other foods. Similarly this will mean that you need to replenish your sugar too, and you can get this from a sugary tea. The fact that your body is fighting a disease is one that might sound dramatic, but this is fitting for what is actually going on inside you, and like any taxing effort this means your body requires energy which it can get from carbs. Slow release carbs are the most effective here as they will avoid the spike and trough in energy that comes from using quick release carbs (these are also known as complex and simple carbs respectively). Complex carbs involve things such as bread, pasta and rice, whereas your simple carbs are things like cake and sweets.

Unfortunately, while your body will need all of these things to actively fight your condition, the temptation will regularly be to avoid eating anything at all. This will be partly because the fever can make you feel somewhat sick and ruin your appetite, but also because of your sore throat that will make swallowing very difficult. In order to get around this then you should try to get your diet to focus on foods that digest easily and that are smooth to go down your throat.

The aforementioned smoothies and soups can be great for this purpose and particularly if you avoid anything too acidic or alkaline that can upset the acidity of your stomach. Other great foods for a sore throat however are things like ice cream and yogurt that will just slip down your throat. Honey is especially useful as it can not only go down very easily, but also leave a thin coating on your throat in order to prevent it from feeling sorer over time. Bread meanwhile, if you buy (or make) the right kind is also very nutritious while being soft when you swallow it and very dry meaning it is unlikely to upset your stomach.

Generally your body will tell you what you should be eating through its cravings. This is after all the evolutionary reason we get cravings in the first place – so make sure you listen to them. The main lesson to take from this though is to make sure that you do eat something and to ensure that you get your vitamins and minerals and that you replenish the sugar and salt your body has lost.

Source: Health Guidance

Posted in Healthy nutrition