When you are sick at home with cold, nothing is more important for your recovery than maintaining a proper diet. You want your diet to be balanced, nutritious, and filled with antioxidants. This can be a bit easier to articulate than actually achieve however, because when you are sick you sometimes don’t want to eat healthy. After all, you are probably miserable and looking to just indulge yourself in your misery. This is understandable, but you should be careful. Not everything you eat has to be chicken soup and orange juice. But there are some foods you should really work to avoid to maximize your recuperative abilities and not set back your recovery.
Foods to Avoid While You’re Sick
Dairy
Dairy is one of the worst things you can consume when you are sick. It is one of the biggest contributors towards increasing mucus production. Not only does it increase mucus production, but it actually plays a role in thickening the mucus produced. This is the last thing you want if your nose is already stuffy. Dairy products can also induce inflammation which can slow down your immune system’s response and lead to even more severe symptoms.
Processed foods
Processed foods are probably what you will have the most trouble avoiding. When you are sick you aren’t looking forward to cooking. But processed foods can trigger inflammation and they have limited amounts of nutrients. This can be detrimental to your health because when you’re sick, you want to prioritize accumulating nutrients in your body.
Alcohol
Not all alcohol is bad when you are sick. A glass of wine or whiskey can be just the thing you need. But if you over indulge it can cause some real problems. Alcohol dehydrates you, which will make your mucus worst and can lead to headaches. It can also cause inflammation and slow down your immune system.
