A nutritionist tells how to eat properly during ARVI

In the first days of a cold, as a rule, you don’t feel like eating at all. Do you need to overcome yourself, she told Belarusian nutritionist Svetlana Kashitskaya portal newgrodno.by.

According to the specialist, if you don’t feel like eating, you definitely need to drink a lot of liquid. A large amount of liquid will not only moisturize the mucous membranes of the upper respiratory tract, but will also help rid the body of toxins.

During a cold, you need to drink at least 2.5 liters of liquid, and it can be not only water. Kashitskaya recommended drinking cranberry juice, ginger tea, warm milk with honey, herbal infusions (chamomile, thyme, sage, linden, tea with raspberries and currants). You can also drink mineral water with an alkaline composition.

Lack of protein during illness leads to a decrease in the formation of enzymes and antibodies. Protein is very important for the functioning of leukocytes – white blood cells that fight bacteria and viruses. Therefore, it is necessary to saturate the body with plant (chickpeas, lentils, red beans, oat bran and nuts, cereals, cheese, eggs, fish) and animal proteins (meat, poultry (chicken, idea), rabbit).

Thanks to the amino acid cysteine, chicken broth is an excellent food for colds. It relieves swelling of the nasal and oropharyngeal mucosa and thins sputum.

Fats are very important to protect the lungs from infections, so you need to have enough of them in your diet. Every day during colds you should consume vegetable oil, nuts, butter and fish oil.

Garlic is a natural antibiotic. No cold and flu treatment can do without this product.

Don’t forget about the benefits of fermented milk products: they keep the intestinal microflora in working order. 80% of immune protection is in the intestines and depends on the state of the microflora. The most useful are kefir, cottage cheese, and natural yogurt.

During a cold, Svetlana Kashitskaya recommends limiting sweets, but be sure to include porridge in your diet – oatmeal, rice and buckwheat. They will provide the body with easily digestible carbohydrates.