Did you know that there are a few foods that you may have had a misconception about and consumed at times during when you were sick only to realise that your infection got worse but you were not being able to trace the cause?
Here’s helping you to understand as to which of these seemingly safe foods in actuality carry the potential to intensify and worsen your infections.
Foods are both capable of healing you as well as degrading your system. It is very important that you make the right choices in the food that you eat, and more so when you are already ill.
Here is a list of those foods you should avoid when you are already suffering an infection:
EXCESS ROUGHAGE
While roughage in general adds bulk to your stool and makes it easier to pass, it’s unadvisable to consume too much of it when you’re suffering from diarrhoea or other similar infections because foods like these take a lot of time to digest and puts load on your digestive system, thus slowing down the healing process.
Hence avoid too much of roughage when your stomach is upset or you’re immunity is weak because as explained it can actually rather make your infections worse, instead of helping your stomach relax. Stick to rice and other similar food products which are less in fibre.
DAIRY PRODUCTS
Dairy products like milk, yoghurt and cheese add to the mucus secretions in the body which will cause you to feel bloated and it will also act upon the bad bacteria to worsen your stomach infection or for that matter, viral infections like cough and cold.
Milk has the capacity to make colds worse by adding to the mucus secretion in the body, leading to nose blockage and chest blockage so that the virus isn’t able to come out of the system.
ORANGE JUICE
Orange juice or any such excessively sweetened drinks may slow down and also on instances completely stall the capacity of the white blood cells in our body to fight off infections.
So no matter how much you crave for sweet fruit juices, when you’re out in the heat, while you’re suffering a stomach infection, try and control your temptations and avoid the purchasing of packaged drinks. Instead get back home and relish on freshly cut fruits which are much healthy compared to packaged juices.
SODA
Soda and other aerated drinks such as cola can make you feel bloated, cause dehydration and further inflammation. It also contains a lot of sugar which again is bad for the times when you’re already sick. Try to replenish ample amount of water in your body and avoid dehydration to help in washing out the infection off your system.
Soda is the worst possible food item you can resort to when you’re suffering an infection. You should be extra careful into making sure that you don’t get dehydrated especially when you’re sick. Water is very important for the body to be able to regain its health.
ICE-CREAM
Ice-cream too contains sweeteners which are quite harmful for the body when you’re sick, even though it may bring temporary relief.
You might want to grab on to an ice-cream to relax the stomach, which you’re sure it is capable of. But the fact of the matter is, the cool ice-cream might only grant you a feeling of temporary relief, while gladly contributing to the infection that is present in your system.
You must hence avoid all forms of sugar and extra sweet foods to prevent it from acting upon your infection and aggravating it any further.
GLUTEN
Gluten has the potential to cause inflammation and it should be strictly avoided by those who have persistent stomach complications. Consumption of gluten during a stomach infection can terribly affect your system and make you feel worse than ever.
FRIED FOODS
Fried food of course contains unhealthy fat which adds to inflammation. Inflammation works up your digestive system and your immune system which is already working hard enough to kick off the infection, so that immune system fails to fight off the infection because it becomes weak from working too hard in both processing and digesting food that contain high amounts of fat and cholesterol, and in fighting off infection.
The immune system is unable to take the load and hence crashes, contributing to further worsening of the illness and infection.
UNHEALTHY OILS
Refined oils like vegetable oils are harmful for the body when sick, because it causes inflammation. Light oils like Olive oil contains Omega 3 fats which is good for the immune system.
Don’t over stress your immune system which is already working to rid your system off the infection. Resort to foods that are easy to digest and are light on the digestive system. Avoid foods that require a lot of time to be broken down and digested. As much as the food you eat is important in defining your overall health, it is also very important to use the right oil in cooking that food, because if bad oil is used to cook nutritious food then the chances remain of the nutrition from the specific food being lost,
which is why it is always advisable to avoid street-side food which is cooked in oil that is reheated over and over again making it absolutely no less than poisonous for the immune system.
ALCOHOL
Alcohol slows down the immune system and curbs it off its sense of control, when consumed daily and in huge doses. Alcohol should be rather avoided when you’re sick so that the healing process doesn’t slow down.
Alcohol makes your stomach weak and hinders in the process of digestion; to add to that, it slows down your brain and its ability to function properly as compared to when you are sober. This along with the brain affects other parts of your body as the brain is responsible for sending sensory notifications to all the organs in the body and when the brain loses control, the other organs of the body, including the immune system fails to function properly.
BAKED ITEMS
Baked foods like cake, biscuits and cookies contain a lot of sugar, which as said earlier, is bad for your infection as it causes inflammation in the body and stalls the workings of the white blood cells in warding off bacteria from the system.
Avoid all forms of food that have an excess of sugar content in them. Excess of sugar is a complete no-no for when you are already suffering from an infection.
Giving a read to this article should lend you an idea as to what are the kinds of food you must avoid when you are sick. You might have not been sure of their effects and may have consumed most of these foods listed above unknowingly, only to feel even worse when you were already suffering. Avoiding these foods and sticking to a healthy diet is however sure to heal you sooner. You might want to consult a nutritionist to get a personal diet chart made for yourself, in order to maintain a healthy and balanced diet and to avoid further stomach infections.
