What are the dietary taboos for children with cough?

One is to avoid foods that the child is clearly allergic to, and the other is to avoid foods that will irritate the respiratory tract and increase the burden on the gastrointestinal tract. There is really no need to blindly avoid other foods, but the nutrition will not keep up and will slow down recovery.

For example, the most widely circulated saying "Don't eat sweets when coughing" actually depends on the situation. If the baby has a dry cough with no phlegm and a dry and itchy throat, drinking a small amount of warm honey water can moisturize the throat mucosa and relieve coughs caused by irritation. However, if the baby coughs with heavy phlegm and can hear snoring in the throat when he coughs, he should really avoid high-sugar foods. There used to be a 5-year-old patient with mycoplasma infection. Her mother was afraid that he would lose his appetite after taking medicine, so she used the fruit peel to coax him every day. As a result, the phlegm was not cleared for half a month. After stopping the high-sugar snacks and using nebulization, he felt much refreshed in 3 days. Oh, by the way, babies under 1 year old must not touch honey, as there is a risk of botulism poisoning, so don’t forget this.

There are also old people who always say that you should not touch cold things when you cough. This is not the absolute truth. A while ago, a child suffered from herpetic angina. His throat was so swollen that he could not even swallow warm water. I also asked the parents to give a small amount of iced yogurt and popsicles. This can not only relieve the pain of pharyngeal edema, but also provide some energy. As long as he does not eat too much and has diarrhea.； However, if the child has a cold cough caused by cold, a runny nose, and cold hands and feet, then if he is given ice drinks or cold fruits just taken out of the refrigerator, it will definitely stimulate the cough and make the cough worse. At this time, he should avoid eating cold foods.

As for the food that everyone is confused about whether they can eat it, such as seafood, eggs, and milk, there is no unified answer. As long as your child is not allergic to these foods and has no history of allergic coughs or asthma, he can eat them normally. Supplementing some protein can help restore immunity. I met a very careful grandma before. Her baby had a cough for half a month, and she only had white porridge every day. In the end, the baby lost two pounds, and her immunity did not improve, but the cough lasted longer. Allergens were checked and there were no problems, and she was fine within a few days after returning to a normal diet. But if the baby is allergic, or has an allergic cough this time, then the known allergenic foods must be avoided, otherwise it will aggravate the airway hyperresponsiveness and make the child unable to stop coughing.

After talking about these controversial points, there is another little reminder that many people ignore, which is not to feed their children heavy food that is too salty and oily. Many parents are afraid that their children will get sick and lose their appetite, so they always want to cook some braised pork ribs and braised meat as an appetizer. High salt and oil will not only irritate the throat mucosa and aggravate the cough, but also put a burden on the already weak intestines and stomach. If they accidentally accumulate food, it will prolong the course of the cough.

In fact, to put it bluntly, there is no need to memorize a list of contraindications when your child coughs. Observation is more effective than anything else. If your child coughs more frequently, or develops rashes or diarrhea after eating something, just avoid it next time. Eat whatever you need to eat for the rest. If you have enough nutrition, you will get better quickly.