Call Them Comfort Foods

While there’s no cure for cold or flu, eating properly may help to prevent them, shorten their duration or make symptoms less severe. For example, in one study, people who sucked on zinc-enriched lozenges during their colds were free of symptoms a full four days earlier than a comparable group who weren’t given the lozenges. Rich food sources of zinc include wheat germ, dried peas and beans, oysters and other seafood, meat and poultry, dairy products and tofu.

More than two decades of extensive research have failed to substantiate claims that megadoses of vitamin C can prevent and cure colds. It’s known, however, that vitamin C has a slight antihistaminic effect, so drinking more citrus juice or taking a supplement of 500 to 2,000 milligrams a day may help reduce nasal symptoms.

Perhaps more promising are Israeli findings that elderberry extract and lozenges attack cold and flu viruses. Elderberry products are available under the name of Sambucol in health food stores.

During a cold or the flu, drink a minimum of eight to 10 glasses of fluids a day in order to replenish lost fluids, keep mucous membranes moist and loosen phlegm. Abstain from alcohol, which dilates small blood vessels and makes the nose and sinuses feel stuffed up. Alcohol may also produce adverse effects when taken with many drugs, especially cold and cough remedies, and reduces the body’s immune response, its ability to fight infection.

The debate about whether to feed a cold and starve a fever (or vice versa) is obsolete; doctors recommend eating when you feel hungry. The following foods may be helpful and comforting:

Chicken soup. Grandma was right! Not only is it soothing and easy to digest, but chicken soup also contains a substance that helps to thin out the mucus, relieving congestion.

Spicy foods. Hot peppers, or chilies, contain capsaicin, a substance that can help reduce nasal and sinus congestion. Garlic, turmeric and other hot spices have a similar effect.

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From “Foods That Harm, Foods That Heal: An A-Z Guide to Safe and Healthy Eating” (Reader’s Digest Assn., 1997). Reprinted with permission. To order, call (800) 846-2100.