Best & Worst Foods When Battling Common Cold

Summers, mild rains and thus hot and humid climate is prevalent in most parts of India these days. As a result, seasonal viral infections are rampant and patients are queuing up in clinics and hospitals. Day before yesterday, my mother suddenly caught high fever accompanied with runny nose and excessive coughing. Yesterday, my father also caught the infection and got high fever with common cold, vomiting and coughing. When taken to doctor, he started antibiotics course of five days for the condition that he called “Seasonal Viral Infection.”

Common cold is a condition caused by a virus affecting upper respiratory tract. The condition can be recurring because the body is not resistant to all types of viruses and the common cold can be caused by more than 200 types of viruses. The common symptoms of cold are mild infrequent fever, sneezing, blocked nose, sore throat cough and hoarse voice. Some people may experience rare symptoms like muscle aches, shivering and weakness. Since cold is pretty common, it can be cured by over the counter medications, however, there are natural ways to prevent the effects of cold and even cure it. A lot depends on what you eat, but understanding the best and worst foods for cold is important. Let’s take a look at some foods that helps in fighting cold or worsens the effects:

• Chicken soup: Drinking a soup can help against the cold. Hot chicken soup clears the nasal passages and blockage from mucus. Chicken soup provides energy and fights against symptoms due to its anti-inflammatory effects.
• Fruit juice: Juices are generally considered good for the health, but in cold, it may do no good to the body. Juice rich in vitamin C do no prevent cold symptoms. Going for natural juice may somehow prevent getting cold but one should strictly avoid packaged juice because it contains added sugars.
• Onions, Green Tea, Broccoli, Kale: All these contain antioxidant quecertin, which is known to fight against cold. However, not much evidence can be claimed from the studies.
• Chilli peppers: Adding a heat to the diet can clear out the nasal passages, reducing the mucus. It will not reduce the cold, but make you feel better.
• Ginger: Drinking hot ginger tea will certainly help to fight cold. Ginger can be added to other foods to curb the effects.
• Dairy products: Dairy products are not good during a cold. In fact, it can make matter worse by adding more mucus in the nasal passage.
• Garlic: Garlic is pungent and recent studies suggest that it can be good against the cold.
• Caffeine and Alcohol: Perhaps, the biggest mistake is drinking alcohol in cold. It dehydrates the body, further drying out the throat. Caffeinated coffee or tea also do not make any difference in cold, except for keeping you active.