The Myth of Eating Dairy With a Cold
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The Myth of Eating Dairy With a Cold
Many parents believe that feeding a child milk while they have a cold will increase mucus production and make the cold worse.
While dairy products may coat the back of the throat, they do not increase mucus production, and are therefore fine to consume during a cold.
In fact, dairy can offer a good variety of nutrients, including calcium, potassium, and water. It also gives kids calories and proteins they need to recover. Colds usually make people less able to taste their food/drink and make them feel sick to their stomachs, so people usually eat less when sick. Every calorie during illness is essential, so milk offers good nutritional value per calorie.
One thing to keep in mind, excessive mucous can cause stomach upset and temporary milk (lactose) intolerance. Kids with colds can develop diarrhea from the mucous as well and lactose can make that worse. If that's the case, soy milk is also a good way to obtain calories, nutrients, and electrolytes to aid a person to a good recovery.
Yogurt is a great way to get the gastro-intestinal tract back in gear when sick. Four to eight ounces of yogurt with some fruit makes for a great and yummy snack.
Per the American Academy of Pediatrics and Food and Drug Administration, kids ages 2-8 years should drink about 2 cups of milk a day. That's 16 oz total of dairy a day.
Comments
12/21/2007 3:49:57 PMjon said:
totally not true.
i have stopped eating dairy prodects and the amount of colds has gone WAY down
5/15/2008 2:05:30 PM
Trin_NZ said:
In my experience whenever I have a cold, if I totally cut out dairy products alltogether it makes the effects of the cold far less. I don't get a stuffy nose and phlegm like I would if I was still consuming dairy.
This may not be the case for everyone but for me it really makes a difference!
Also I have read that consuming large amounts of dairy does indeed create mucus in your body so in my opinion it probably agravates a cold.
just my opinion of course, i'm not a health professional...I can only speak from experience.
2/11/2009 4:34:14 PM
Corey said:
Thanks! Such a common myth! I've kept from drinking dairy while I was sick -- all my friends too.
4/28/2009 5:27:33 AM
Jiminy Bilibob the second said:
Jokes aside - i just want to check if this is a credible source - i am new to the site - can anyone confirm this?
1/12/2010 10:29:02 PM
Patricia said:
Hey Jimmy,
While many people avoid drinking milk products (either milk or soy) during a cold, it's a good source of vitamins and electrolytes.
Some health care workers (physicians, nurses, etc) will tell you to avoid them because it causes more mucous, it doesn't. The milk itself does not cause more mucous.
Now, it does coat and can cause large amounts of mucous to thicken. The nasal drainage, when swallowed and settles in the stomach, can cause a bit of stomach irritation and then a temporary lactose intolerance.
So, milk may not be the best choice if you're having gastric upset with your cold/flu, but if you want milk or a milk product and it agrees with you when you have a cold/flu, it's perfectly fine to drink it.
Listen, people drink beer, wine, do drugs (illegal), and sleep around when sick. I don't think a glass of milk is going to cause any damage.
Really, you have to gauge how you feel at the time to make that decision.
Does that help?
Patricia
2/14/2011 11:08:39 AM
Dulce de Leche said:
As to the post above, yet there are far worse things to do than drink milk while having a cold, but drinking milk isn't the wisest choice to do. Even said so yourself...
2/21/2011 11:16:30 PM
Patricia said:
Actually, Dulce de leche (cute), I said milk can coat the mucus so it might not sit well, but I didn't say it wasn't the greatest thing to drink. It's all about what you can tolerate when you're sick.
6/1/2011 2:38:18 AM
Lance said:
Can you cite any studies that correlate this?
9/2/2011 3:09:59 PM
Patricia said:
Jimmy,
I found this information from the Mayo Clinic:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/phlegm/AN01455
Does this help?
Patricia
9/6/2011 11:44:56 PM
Shlameel said:
owned
1/10/2012 6:57:06 PM
Daniel said:
When I was a kid my mom use to tell me"when you have a cough..don't drink cold things cause it will make you more sick." Now is there any truth to that statement.
