Best Foods for Recovering from the Flu

We don’t have to worry about mosquitoes this season, but now those other dreaded bugs abound—flu, cold, rotavirus—oh dear!

When you or a member of your family comes down with a nasty virus, it can be hard on everyone.  Recovery may also take some time.  Once you’re on the mend, how can you help your body recuperate more quickly?  The Mayo Clinic and WebMD recommends these steps:

Recovering From the Flu:

• Eat Simple Foods: If you’ve suffered from the stomach flu or rotavirus, many physicians recommend following the BRAT diet, which stands for bananas, rice, apple sauce, and toast.  The idea is to eat foods that are easy to digest, so soda crackers, potatoes, and gelatin are also suitable choices.
• Avoid Dairy: Avoid dairy foods (other than yogurt) because the virus that causes the stomach flu can knock out your body’s lactose-absorbing cells that digest milk enzymes.  This effectively makes you temporarily lactose intolerant and can lengthen the time your digestive system takes to recover.  Also avoid soda, caffeine, alcohol, sugary sports drinks, nicotine, fatty foods, and highly seasoned foods.
• Stay Hydrated: It’s extremely important to stay hydrated.  Children can be given rehydration solutions to replace lost electrolytes.  Infants should be given plenty of formula or breast milk (you can also talk to your pediatrician for more information).

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Tags: Cold Remedies, Flu Remedies, Mayo Clinic, WebMD

How to Fight the Flu

School is back in session and cold and flu season is here, so it’s best to be prepared to prevent a virus from making its way into your home.  The Center for Disease Control has a checklist of things to do to prevent the spread of seasonal illness:

• Avoid close contact: Try to steer clear of sick individuals.  If you’re sick, try to keep your distance from others to prevent them from getting sick, too.
• Stay home when you’re sick: Stay home from work, school and errands when you’re sick, to try to prevent others from catching your illness.  With the flu, you should stay home until at least 24 hours after your fever is gone.
• Cover your mouth and nose: In addition to being polite, covering your nose and mouth with a tissue when you sneeze or cough will help prevent the spread of airborne germs.
• Clean your hands: Wash your hands often to prevent the spread of germs, especially in communal areas; a good rule of thumb is to lather your hands for as long as it takes to sing ‘Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star’ or ‘Happy Birthday.’  If soap and water aren’t available, use an alcohol-based rub (like Purell Instant Hand Sanitizer or TopCare Hand Sanitizer).
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth: Germs are often spread by touching these areas, so try to avoid doing so.
• Gargle: Using warm salt water (or Listerine) to gargle twice a day can help prevent flu from spreading, since most flus, including H1N1, take several days after initial contact to show characteristic symptoms.
• Practice good health habits: Get plenty of sleep, eat healthy food (check out our blog on immunity-boosting foods here), exercise and drink plenty of fluids — especially warm liquids — to help lower your risk of illness.

For more information, click here.

Tags: Center for Disease Control, Flu Remedies, Hand Sanitizer