So I am at the market, watching the guy in front of me who has a bad cough, red runny nose, and probably a sore throat. He’s opening the Ricola throat lozenges in his basket and pops one in his mouth. I look down in his basket and notice 3 boxes of tissues and lozenges. He then reaches down and opens one of the boxes of tissues and blows his nose. As he places his items on the belt, I have to keep back a grin (isn’t that horrible?) when I see the rest of his purchase: a six pack of beer, a frosted sugary cereal, and gold fish crackers. I want to grab him and say, “Don’t do it man, don’t do it! Your going to feel SO much worse tomorrow if you ingest that crap tonight!” The only thing that would have made his Saturday night purchase worse would be a pint of Haagan Daaz ice cream…or Ben and Jerry’s for that matter!
So next time your feeling feverish, snotty phlegmy swollen nose, scratchy irritated throat, congested sore lungs and pretty much like a wet diaper make sure to not purchase dairy, wheat, sugar, beer, and junk food like prepackaged cereal and crackers full of hydrogenated oil and God knows what else. All these foods will make matters MUCH worse, and keep you a big puffy mess, plugged up and headachey. All these foods (and some of these non foods as some might argue) are foods that increase phlegm production–what we call damp promoting foods in Chinese medicine. If you don’t believe me, experiment for yourself and you will see!
When you are having an upper respiratory infection, and if your in sonoma county, come in to the clinic and get come acupuncture–a very helpful immune booster! And most importantly, eat light, easy to digest, non greasy foods. Comforting chicken soup, cayanne, ginger, fruit, steamed vegis, whole grains. Avoid all the damp foods listed above, and you will find that your head cold will pass much more quickly!
