What foods should you eat for viral colds? Pay attention to a balanced diet

Viral cold is a common clinical disease. The pathogen of this disease is mainly virus, which can be transmitted through the air. Mild viral colds can be improved through food. As for what food to eat for viral colds, you must follow the principle of light diet.

1. Nutritional principles

Cold patients often suffer from loss of appetite, indigestion and other symptoms, so the diet should be light, soft and easy to digest and absorb, and it is advisable to eat small meals frequently. Most cold patients have symptoms such as fever and sweating, or sweat due to taking antipyretics. Therefore, they should replenish water in time. Adequate water can also dilute toxins in the blood and accelerate the excretion of metabolites, thereby alleviating cold symptoms and shortening the course of the disease. Fruits and vegetables are alkaline foods, which are not conducive to the reproduction of viruses, bacteria and other microorganisms after consumption. Therefore, eating more foods rich in calcium, zinc and vitamins can have a certain inhibitory effect on viruses. Red foods are rich in carotene, which is also very helpful for recovering from colds.

2. Suitable food

Choices of staple foods and beans include liquid foods such as rice porridge, millet porridge, cornmeal porridge, rice soup, mashed noodles, mung beans, glutinous rice, lotus root powder paste, almond powder paste, and soy products. Meat, eggs and milk choices include milk and dairy products, egg custard, lamb liver, pig kidney, etc. For vegetable choices, leafy vegetables include Chinese cabbage, Chinese cabbage, amaranth, and coriander; root vegetables include carrots, ginger, and potatoes; melons and tomatoes include winter melon, cucumber, bitter melon, and tomatoes; various mushrooms, onions, and garlic. Fruits to choose include fresh fruits with lots of juice, such as apples, pears, oranges, watermelons, water chestnuts, and sugar cane.

3. Dietary taboos

Avoid sweet and greasy food: Sweet and greasy food hinders the normal functioning of the spleen and stomach, breeds phlegm and dampness, and aggravates symptoms of cough and sputum. Therefore, patients with colds should not eat desserts, cakes, or glutinous rice pastries.

Avoid spicy and hot foods: spicy and hot foods such as chili peppers and mustard help produce fire and phlegm, which makes the phlegm sticky and difficult to cough up, aggravating headaches and nasal congestion.

Avoid grilled and fried foods: Grilled and fried foods, such as fried toast, fried pork chops, barbecue, etc., although fragrant and delicious, are not easy to digest, delay recovery, and are not conducive to early recovery from illness.

Avoid strong irritating condiments: Curry powder, pepper powder, and chili powder are all highly irritating and harmful to the respiratory mucosa, making it dry and spasmodic, causing nasal congestion, choking and coughing, and aggravating the patient's symptoms. Therefore, patients with colds should not eat it.

Avoid sea fish, persimmons, tobacco, alcohol, etc.

Avoid irregular diet, as it will make the cold protracted and difficult to cure. People with colds should avoid eating raw, cold fruits and drinking cold drinks.