When you end up with a cold, the last thing you want to do is make it worse. When looking for the best ways to relieve cold symptoms, you’ll find a widespread debate over eating ice cream when sick. Some people claim that ice cream is not only soothing for you, but may speed up recovery. Others say avoid ice cream when sick because of its dairy and sugar content. Should ice cream be avoided when you’re sick? Let’s find out.

Opinions on Eating Ice Cream When Sick

Pros

The smooth and creamy texture of ice cream will allow it to easily slide down a sore throat when it may be difficult to get other foods down. Eating ice cream when sick will provide calories for your body that you may not otherwise eat when sick.

Ice cream is like an anesthetic that reduces inflammation and provides temporary sore throat relief. Ice creams with plain flavors, like vanilla or chocolate, are better than those that have added topping of chocolate chunks or nuts, which could aggravate a sore throat.

Ice cream is recommended after surgery for tonsillitis. Before eating any ice cream, however, it is advised for patients to first drink clear liquids. After a while, the patient can move to a cold liquid diet, which will include plain-flavored ice creams and yoghurts.

Cons

With its high amount of sugar, eating ice cream when sick could actually worsen the swelling in your throat. If you eat ice cream and do not follow with a glass of water or gargling, pieces of sugar will be left in the crevices of your throat, where they will soon begin to aggravate the swelling. For those who commonly experience a sore throat after eating sweets or cold liquids, it is not recommended for you to consume any ice cream while sick.

Remember that ice cream contains dairy. Although there is no direct correlation between dairy intake and phlegm production, dairy does increase the thickness of phlegm. Thicker phlegm will quickly irritate your throat and possibly worsen your cough.

The most important thing to do when you are sick is to stay warm—cover yourself up with warm blankets, eat warm food, and avoid anything cold. Ice cream, as well as other cold foods, will cause your body temperature to decrease. Once your body temperature decreases, it will have to spend extra energy to warm up rather than use that much-needed energy to heal.

The Bottom Line

When you are under the weather, ice cream will definitely taste good and offer calorie to your body. It is effective at soothing a sore throat, unless the symptom is caused by consuming sugary and icy food at the beginning. If you are worried about the dairy, feel free to choose a dairy-free alternative such as sorbet, ice pops, ice chips or ice water.

Myths about Cold and Flu

There are many tales about cold and flu, aside from eating ice cream. We are here to show you which strategies and beliefs are helpful, and which will do more damage than good.

Myth 1: You Should Avoid Dairy When You Are Sick.

The truth: There is no logical or medical basis for avoiding dairy when sick.

Although many people, including doctors and pediatricians, believe dairy products increase mucus production, there is no evidence to support it. Studies show no correlation between dairy consumption and increased nasal secretions or aggravated congestion symptoms. In fact, milk mixed with saliva often mimics the feel of mucus. This mixture may have led to the false belief that drinking milk or consuming dairy products while sick is bad.

Myth 2: Feed a Cold, Starve a Fever.

The truth: Feed a cold and feed a fever.

When you are sick, any good food will help boost your immune system. Whether you have a cold or a fever, boosting your immune system will help you recover quickly while alleviating your symptoms. Besides, a fever will raise your metabolism speed, meaning you will need more food to heal, not less. Regardless of your symptoms, the best road to a quick recovery is staying hydrated and eating well.

Myth 3: Chicken Soup Will Speed Up Recovery from a Cold.

The truth: Soup is the perfect comfort food, when made properly.

A chicken soup made with plenty of veggies will help ease inflammation, which is the main cause of flu and cold symptoms. Reducing inflammation with the proper foods, especially in soup form as it will feel better on a sore throat, will quickly reduce your symptoms.

Myth 4: Flu Vaccines Make You Catch Flu.

The truth: Vaccines can cause flu-like symptoms, but not the actual flu.

Flu shots are created with viruses that have been killed, or “inactivated” viruses, and cannot cause an infection. When you receive a flu shot, you may have an achy side effect. Most people misattribute this to the beginning of the flu, but the symptom should subside in just a few days.

The nasal spray flu vaccine, on the other hand, contains live viruses, but its viruses are significantly weakened and should not cause the flu. Some side effects, such as dizziness and running nose, may result from nasal spray flu vaccine. These reactions, however, are mild and will not last for a long time. The actual flu would take much longer to recover from, and should not come from either of these vaccines.

To learn more about flu vaccines, watch the video below: