What do you eat while Sick/Cold/Fever

[smcfay]

Hey fellas,

What do you guys normally cosume to speed up recovery when your feeling under the weather? Got a bad cold and i can't even eat my normal levels of Protein/carbs/fats.

 

[BigBen]

Back off on the protein for now. Back off on the processed and refined starches for now. If i were you i would be eating as many dark green leafy vegetables as i could. I would be eating Fruits, berries, and if you choose to eat oranges, eat as much of the white portion of the orange as possible because that is where the large majority of the vitamin C(antioxidant) is found. If you really want to clear your system out get some ginger and a bell pepper and juice it in a vegetable juicer with some mustard greens. The juice is going to taste awful but their are a lot of chemicals in those foods that will make your nose run(produce mucous) and help remove some of that mucous you may have built up. The spicy foods act in a way that clears your nose up for a while instead of clogging it up. Obviously do not do this if you are allergic, or if you do not know if you are allergic. Besides that fruits and vegetables boost your immune system. SO cut back on the meat and increase the fresh raw fruits and vegetables.

Garlic has antibacterial properties, as do onions, nothing huge, but still effective. Think about supplementing a probiotic. Lactobacillus acidophilus creates 2 chemicals that would benefit you. One chemical is propionic acid and that has anti bacterial and anti-mold effects. The other chemical is acidophilin. Acidophilin is a precursor to an anti-histemine/ anti-inflammatory chemical. If you decide to take a probiotic I would take 10 Billion CFUs daily of Lactobacillus Acidophilus. All of these smaller ideas add to your health in a big way. You might also try green and white tea with a small amount of cream to inhibit the tannins and some lemon for anti-oxidants and electrolytes. Get fresh tea form a store and brew it yourself! The difference in prepackaged tea and fresh tea/herbs is drastic! I am in favor of the fresh tea both because of its flavor and because of the better nutrition content. Most teas do have caffeine in them also so if you urinate a lot remember to drink so you stay hydrated.

I do recommend lowering your protein intake. Try and aim for a nitrogen equilibrium while you are sick, or a bit lower. Remember that everything that you eat is digested, and digestion is a huge energy expenditure. Give your body what it needs and let your body rest. You are not training so do not ingest the levels of food you use to build muscle and restore glycogen. Protein is acidic, and speaking generally, most common colds or common bacterias thrive in environments that are slightly acidic. The metabolites of the 'disease causing' bacteria are acidic. Eating animal proteins causes an immune system response, and so do a lot of the different processed foods.


Very generally speaking eat more fresh fruits and vegetables to boost your immune system and less meats and processed foods that have negative effects on your immune system. The foods are not going to have a really big effect on the bacteria itself. The purpose of the food is help create healthy cells and a life friendly environment so your immune system can do its job and protect you against bacteria, viruses, mold, ect.


Ben

 

[smcfay]

very informative bigben, are you a doctor? Thanks for these great tips. Here I am concerned about not getting enough protein and wondering why I'm still sick.

 

[BigBen]

very informative bigben, are you a doctor? Thanks for these great tips. Here I am concerned about not getting enough protein and wondering why I'm still sick.

Dietician. Working on another masters. Do not misunderstand me you will shrink a bit b/c of what I suggested. You should reacquire all of the mass you lost from lowering your calories/protein relatively quickly. Once you start eating and training like you were I would expect you to be back to form with in a week or two. That of course depends on how long you take off and decrease protein consumption. You can help prevent illness by increasing the consumption of fruits, vegetables and probiotics even when you are not fighting off an infection. Eat as many fruits and vegetables as you need to stay full and keep the protein lower until you normalize again and start back training, thus requiring the extra protein/calories. If you decide to make the majority of your calories fruits and vegetables and do cut out the processed foods, if you were eating them, add a little salt(1 serving, 300-500mg per 2 cups vegetables fruit) to your food so you maintain a healthy electrolyte balance.



Ben

 

[smcfay]

Dietician. Working on another masters. Do not misunderstand me you will shrink a bit b/c of what I suggested. You should reacquire all of the mass you lost from lowering your calories/protein relatively quickly. Once you start eating and training like you were I would expect you to be back to form with in a week or two. That of course depends on how long you take off and decrease protein consumption. You can help prevent illness by increasing the consumption of fruits, vegetables and probiotics even when you are not fighting off an infection. Eat as many fruits and vegetables as you need to stay full and keep the protein lower until you normalize again and start back training, thus requiring the extra protein/calories. If you decide to make the majority of your calories fruits and vegetables and do cut out the processed foods, if you were eating them, add a little salt(1 serving, 300-500mg per 2 cups vegetables fruit) to your food so you maintain a healthy electrolyte balance.


Ben

I recently started a cutting diet but at this point i would rather feel 100%. This is very good information though and should be stickied since i know a lot of folks here probably come down with the cold or fever often. Taking tips from others i was drink lots of orange juice for vitamin C and soup(high sodium) and trying to take in 250+g in protein with shakes.

Thank again ben.

 

[bradlys]

I like to eat milk, bread and some fruits while sick. I won't take heavy meals because it will give digesting problems. Mainly I like to sleep more time to get rid of from cold.

 

[bradlys]

I drink a lot of water after eating normal balanced diet. This helps me recover from any flu like symptoms. Consider also getting checked up by your physician, flu like symptoms may indicate a virus or bacterial infection. It is essential to know what causes the symptoms to know what medications you would be taking to help you recover faster.

 

[remnant]

The best food to eat when one is sick and or cold is fruits and
vegetables. When I am struck with malaria, I come from the tropics, I
have less energy and it helps to take some glucose as well as proteins
to replace the damaged see blood cells. Nutrient packed porridge is
also quite good in adverse situations.

 

[Torres]

Listen , if I'm sick , my appetite usually gets battered. So I usually go have my mother make me some nice homemade chicken soup. I'll buy her all the ingredients and bring them to her house and she cooks it up for me. That makes me feel SO much better it's crazy.
As my appetite slowly returns, I'll start to eat heavier more dense foods to make up for any lbs lost. Sometimes a nice tuna sandwich with the soup really hits the spot !!!

 

[to7update]

Great post right here! Nothing like eating healthy, green vegetables and garlic, the more energy we give to the body, the faster it will recover.

Back off on the protein for now. Back off on the processed and refined starches for now. If i were you i would be eating as many dark green leafy vegetables as i could. I would be eating Fruits, berries, and if you choose to eat oranges, eat as much of the white portion of the orange as possible because that is where the large majority of the vitamin C(antioxidant) is found. If you really want to clear your system out get some ginger and a bell pepper and juice it in a vegetable juicer with some mustard greens. The juice is going to taste awful but their are a lot of chemicals in those foods that will make your nose run(produce mucous) and help remove some of that mucous you may have built up. The spicy foods act in a way that clears your nose up for a while instead of clogging it up. Obviously do not do this if you are allergic, or if you do not know if you are allergic. Besides that fruits and vegetables boost your immune system. SO cut back on the meat and increase the fresh raw fruits and vegetables.

Garlic has antibacterial properties, as do onions, nothing huge, but still effective. Think about supplementing a probiotic. Lactobacillus acidophilus creates 2 chemicals that would benefit you. One chemical is propionic acid and that has anti bacterial and anti-mold effects. The other chemical is acidophilin. Acidophilin is a precursor to an anti-histemine/ anti-inflammatory chemical. If you decide to take a probiotic I would take 10 Billion CFUs daily of Lactobacillus Acidophilus. All of these smaller ideas add to your health in a big way. You might also try green and white tea with a small amount of cream to inhibit the tannins and some lemon for anti-oxidants and electrolytes. Get fresh tea form a store and brew it yourself! The difference in prepackaged tea and fresh tea/herbs is drastic! I am in favor of the fresh tea both because of its flavor and because of the better nutrition content. Most teas do have caffeine in them also so if you urinate a lot remember to drink so you stay hydrated.

I do recommend lowering your protein intake. Try and aim for a nitrogen equilibrium while you are sick, or a bit lower. Remember that everything that you eat is digested, and digestion is a huge energy expenditure. Give your body what it needs and let your body rest. You are not training so do not ingest the levels of food you use to build muscle and restore glycogen. Protein is acidic, and speaking generally, most common colds or common bacterias thrive in environments that are slightly acidic. The metabolites of the 'disease causing' bacteria are acidic. Eating animal proteins causes an immune system response, and so do a lot of the different processed foods.


Very generally speaking eat more fresh fruits and vegetables to boost your immune system and less meats and processed foods that have negative effects on your immune system. The foods are not going to have a really big effect on the bacteria itself. The purpose of the food is help create healthy cells and a life friendly environment so your immune system can do its job and protect you against bacteria, viruses, mold, ect.


Ben

 

[johnjohn]

chicken noodle soup and vitamin C for me.

 

[fitnessmara]

I am sorry to disappoint you, but I am old fashioned when it comes to the cold. I consume chicken soup, lots of tea with lemon and honey, or with caramelized sugar.
I know it is not the best idea in the world, but when I am under the weather it really helps to b ring down at least one ray of light.
The rule is that the fresh vegetables and fruit help a lot, but personally, I don't have any intention to eat anything like that when I am sick.
I saw people overcome stuff like that with Gatorade and dry chips. No idea why, but sometimes it helps just to feel a bit better.

 

[Kakashi2020]

Whenever I have a flu or fever I don't eat because I don't have the appetite so I just drink a lot of liquids but none dairy ones and artificial ones, only water or tea without sugar. My meals consists of just soda crackers and a lot of fresh coconut water, drinking it will not make me hungry, I do this for 2 days on the third day I would be feeling better and would now take vitamin and mineral supplements and eat some sandwiches. On the fourth day I'll be loading on carbs and protein.

 

[Alexandoy]

I was sick the past in the 2 days with abdominal pains and fever. I think I had amoeba inside my stomach so I am taking antibiotic which made me a bit better now. When I am sick, porridge is my diet. Beef porridge is the best because it is the most delicious porridge for me although it is not easy to cook. Glutinous rice is also good for getting back the lost strength. Today I am up and about. I had trimmed our mango tree so I guess I am on my way to recovery. But I will still have porridge for lunch.