What are the best foods to eat for respiratory diseases?

In fact, there is no "best" food suitable for all patients with respiratory diseases. The core principle is to choose food that is digestible, low-irritating, and can help the body replenish energy for repair. It is much more effective than following the trend and eating so-called "lung-moistening remedies."

Not long ago, my nephew was hospitalized with mycoplasma pneumonia. My grandmother in the same ward cooked rock-tang pears for her grandson in different ways every day. As a result, the child's cough was worse than when he was first hospitalized. Later, the nutritionist in charge of the bed came to the ward to figure out the problem: the child had mild gastroesophageal reflux, and over-sweet rock-tang pears would aggravate the reflux. The gastric acid brought in would repeatedly irritate the throat, but the more he ate, the more he coughed.

Speaking of pears, white fungus, and lily, which are generally regarded as "good lung nourishing foods", they are not bad in themselves. If you have a dry cough, dry throat, and pain when swallowing saliva, steam a pear without sugar and drink a bowl of warm white fungus soup. The moment you swallow it, your throat will feel like it has been caressed, which is very comfortable. But if you have a lot of phlegm, are prone to flatulence, or have a cough caused by reflux pharyngitis, you should avoid eating stewed sweets that are high in sugar and dietary fiber. On the contrary, they can easily aggravate phlegm secretion and make your cough more annoying.

Many people only dare to drink white porridge with pickles when they have respiratory diseases. In fact, this is a big pitfall that slows down recovery. Last week, I came into contact with a little girl who was recovering from the flu. She drank clear porridge for three days. She was so weak that she could not walk even two steps. Her cough lasted for almost half a month and she did not get better. Later, I was advised to eat a steamed egg, drink a cup of warm milk every day, and occasionally eat some steamed lean pork tenderloin. After a week or so, the cough was mostly relieved. After all, the repair of respiratory mucosa and the production of antibodies must be supported by high-quality protein. If you only eat gruel with no nutrients, what can your body do to fight viruses and bacteria?

There are a few more controversial foods that need to be mentioned, such as honey. Many children’s respiratory guidelines at home and abroad have mentioned that if a child over 1 year old has a severe dry cough, drink a small spoonful of pure honey before going to bed. The soothing effect is no worse than mild cough syrup. However, children under 1 year old must not touch it. The risk of botulism infection is not a joke. Some people say that if you have a cold and stuffy nose, you should eat something spicy to clear your nose. Indeed, if you only have a stuffy nose and no sore throat, you can drink a bowl of hot noodle soup with a little pepper and sweat and your nose will clear up in an instant. But if you have tonsil suppuration or throat ulcers, spicy food will be a pure "punishment" and it will hurt so much that you can't even swallow food.

I was greedy when I had acute pharyngitis a while ago, so I secretly drank half a cup of iced milk tea. I coughed and stayed up all night that night. Then I drank warm salt water for two days and ate soft steamed pumpkin and steamed sea bass. Within two days, my throat felt much better. To put it bluntly, there is no best food. The one that suits you is the right one. If you eat it, you won’t feel a sting in your throat, it won’t aggravate your cough, you won’t have gas and acid reflux, and you can still eat enough nutrients. It’s better than any folk prescription.