What To Include In Your Diet If You Have The Flu

Keeping your immune system in good shape is essential to dealing with any disease or infection. For that reason, your diet affects your body’s defenses. Find out how to do that in this article.

In this article we explain what to include in your diet if you have the flu. When it gets colder outside, we tend to spend more time indoors in enclosed spaces and are more likely to be around other people who can infect us with the viruses that cause colds and flu.

A proper diet when you have the flu or a cold can help strengthen your immune system to relieve symptoms. It’s important to know which foods help you strengthen your defenses so that you can combat the uncomfortable symptoms of a cold or flu as quickly as possible.

Food and health

If you get enough essential micronutrients from your diet, your body’s defenses work better. Hippocrates said 2,500 years ago, “ Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food. This shows that Hippocrates, whom many call the father of medicine, knew full well that your diet has a major impact on your health.

The foods you eat during the day can affect your health positively or negatively. In fact, there are many micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) that contribute to the normal functioning of your immune system, such as:

Buyer
folic acid
Iron
Selenium
Vitamin A, B12, B6, C, D
Zinc

How Does Your Diet Help When You Have the Flu?

Your body needs all its resources to fight the disease, so it is beneficial to eat good quality food, with a high nutrient content that is easily digestible. You should avoid large meals, as well as foods high in animal fats, sausages, snacks or industrial products.

If you have the flu, your diet should be a light diet, full of fruits and vegetables, as they are easier to digest and will help you recover from symptoms faster.

What should you include in your diet when you have the flu?

1. Garlic

Its antimicrobial properties can help fight respiratory infections. Garlic has antiviral and antibacterial properties (Spanish link) that can help you stay healthy.

It can help fight coughs, colds, and sinusitis. Fresh, raw garlic provides the most health benefits. You can preventively eat 1 or 2 cloves of garlic per day.

2. Yogurt with probiotics

Probiotics are live microorganisms with beneficial health effects. There are several scientific articles confirming that probiotics can shorten the duration of cold and flu symptoms. For this reason, we recommend that you eat yogurt regularly. Your defenses will thank you!

3. Ginger

Ginger is a traditional remedy in medicine around the world. With its strong and spicy taste, ginger helps clear mucus to clear your airways and relieve the symptoms of congestion. It also contains phytochemicals that help fight the viruses that can cause respiratory disease.

4. Foods Containing Zinc

This mineral strengthens and improves your defenses to reduce your flu symptoms. Foods high in zinc can strengthen your immune system and prevent infections.

If you already have a cold, zinc can help reduce the severity of symptoms and help you heal faster. These are some common foods that contain zinc, including:

Legumes (dried beans, chickpeas, black beans, lentils, peas, and soy)
pumpkin seeds

Whole grains
nuts
Beef
Eggs

5. Honey

According to data from the National Library of Medicine, this food acts directly on your throat as it is a natural expectorant that helps eliminate mucus. This makes it a very useful food for controlling and fighting infections, especially thanks to its antiseptic properties.

Other Diet Tips When You Have the Flu

Hydrate well to recover

Hydrating can often help clear mucus more easily. If you already have the symptoms and are not hungry, you should not eat a lot of solid foods for the first few days, but you should definitely drink liquids, such as homemade juices or soup.

If you have the flu, it is important that you drink enough (between 8 and 10 glasses of water a day) to remove mucus and to hydrate your mucous membranes well.

Drink chicken broth

A study from the University of Nebraska confirmed what every grandmother already knew: Chicken soup makes you feel better, as it reduces congestion and lubricates your throat, relieving irritation.

Not to mention that it is nourishing and moisturizing. There is also scientific evidence about the anti-inflammatory properties of chicken soup.

Eat white meat and legumes

It seems that consuming 75mg of zinc per day shortens the duration of the common cold by 20-40%. Also keep in mind that the foods with the highest amount of zinc are white meats, seafood, dried fruits, whole grains and legumes.

Finally, as you have seen, your diet needs to be balanced when you have the flu. Also, getting enough sleep and moderate exercise can help you overcome the infection.