A Diet to fight the Common Cold
Written by H. K. Jones, RD
Published in January 2007
The common cold is caused by any of a number of viruses that can involve the upper respiratory tract. As your body fights the attacking virus, you get the symptoms of a cold, including nasal congestion, sneezing and sniffles.
How well protected are you against the common cold? Colds are a fact of life every winter, but your best defense may be right on your dinner plate. In fact, you can strengthen your immune system's infection-fighting ability by eating a balanced diet, exercising regularly and getting enough rest. Good nutrition is also essential for recovering from a cold, and you can reduce the duration of one and also decrease the aggravating side effects such as stuffy nose and sore throat simply by eating right. Here's how:
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- Fill up on nutrient-rich healthy diet to build your immune system and fight inflammation during a cold.
- Drink plenty of cold and hot liquids. Water, caffeine-free tea, fruit juice, or broth based soups. When you have cold, liquids thin and loosen mucus and help get it moving out of your body. Also chicken soup (well, really any hot liquid) helps move viruses and germs out of the nose more quickly.
- Avoid caffeine. The diuretic effect of caffeine in fluids like coffee, tea, and soda drinks make them less helpful than water or decaffeinated beverages when you have a cold.
- Avoid dairy products including cream based soups, ice cream, or milk as they increase the production of phlegm.
- If you have diarrhea symptoms, eat low-fiber foods such as white bread, white rice or noodles, creamed cereals, ripe bananas, canned or cooked fruit without skins, eggs, mashed or baked potatoes without the skin.
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The Cold Menu
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Breakfast
- Oatmeal (made with water) topped with mixed berries
- Whole-grain toast
- Orange juice
- Hot decaffeinated tea
Lunch
- Chicken vegetable soup (or any non-dairy soup)
- Tomato Juice
- Mandarin orange sections
- Mixed green salad
- Hot decaffeinated tea
Dinner
- Chicken noodle soup (or any non-dairy soup)
- Steamed mixed vegetables
- Whole-wheat pasta with tomato sauce
- Applesauce
- Sliced Fruit
- Hot decaffeinated tea
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If your symptoms get worse after five or so days you could have strep throat, sinusitis, bronchitis, or some other bacterial infection, and you should see your doctor.
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