Food to Avoid When Coughing and Chesty Cough

Chances are, you’ve suffered from a cough in the past, so you would have by now formed ideas as to what is good for it and what makes it worse. Then again, there are different sorts of cough, alongside the different and possibly contradictory non-expert tips on what can help them. 

The advice really does vary from family to family, from region to region, from culture to culture, etc. You might be confused as to which one you’re supposed to heed.

How Do You Know You Have a Chesty Cough?

A chesty cough is just a common term for productive cough, which refers to the kind of cough that expels mucus. This means that the other kind does not. An unproductive cough is a dry or tickly cough, and it comes with its own brand of misery.

You can easily tell when you have a lot of phlegm in your chest. You can hear it and feel it when you cough. It might actually surge up into your mouth, in which case you should expectorate it. This is also why it’s best for you to remain in the comfort and relative isolation of your home when you’re hacking up phlegm.

What’s Causing Your Cough?

When it comes to mucus in the chest, both short-term and long-term illnesses may be involved. It could be something short-lived like a mild chest cold or a more persistent problem like a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. 

Another possible culprit is allergy. Food sensitivities have also been responsible for the body churning up phlegm.

Depending on what you have, your chesty cough may come with a slew of other issues like a stuffy nose, a runny nose, a sore throat, a fever, a headache, etc. Pay attention to what your body is telling you so that you can accurately relay your symptoms to the doctor for a correct diagnosis.

For a lingering cough, it’s definitely paramount that you consult a professional health practitioner. Your consultation will net you an official list of things to avoid. From this, you’ll know which specific restrictions are suggested.

What’s Food Got to Do with It?

You are what you eat. A possible variation of this saying could be “your food is what makes you sick.” Apparently, your diet can cause you to have chronic cough-related conditions. 

For instance, studies indicate that people who prefer high-carbohydrate, high-sodium, and high-fat dishes are more prone to develop a chesty cough than those who eat more fruits and soy products. 

Researchers have named the following as potential irritants to phlegm-related ailments like chesty cough:

•         Pork

•         Poultry

•         Fried potatoes

•         Preserved foods

•         Processed meat

•         Refined grains

Should You Dare with Dairy?

Many have been warned against dairy products in times of troublesome phlegm, but recent findings refute the age-old conviction that dairy causes our body to produce more mucus. The Mayo Clinic confirms that dairy doesn’t cause your body to make more phlegm, but it postulates that dairy does thicken mucus that’s already there.

The dairy debate persists, however. Another recent study maintains that dairy does stimulate mucus production. Supposedly, a protein from milk digestion causes excessive mucus production in the intestinal tract and has a similar effect on the respiratory tract.

Guided by such conflicting findings, you’ll just have to go with personal experience regarding dairy. To play it safe, however, it’s best to avoid milk during episodes of chesty cough to avoid the possibility of a dairy allergy further stimulating mucus production or thickening existing phlegm.

Could You Be Allergic?

Food to avoid when coughing? As previously averred, your chesty cough may also stem from a food allergy. Some of the most common food allergens are the following:

•         Dairy

•         Gluten

•         Nuts

•         Seafood

•         Yeast

•         Eggs

The reaction to these isn’t always anaphylactic shock. Sometimes, they just cause your chest to be filled with mucus so much so that you frequently have a chesty cough that inexplicably won’t go away.

The result may not be death, but ill health is a misery to suffer as well. To determine if you could possibly be allergic, carry out an elimination plan. Stop consuming one possible allergen at a time until you zero in on the culprit.

Is Your Immune System Inhibited?

In order to get rid of chesty cough, your immune system should be in tiptop form. When it has been compromised, it wouldn’t be able to do its job, which is to fight infection and illness. Stress is a strong suppressor of the immune system, and so is poor nutrition. 

To effectively beat your cough and experience long acting cough relief, make sure that your immune system is not inhibited by your consumption of unhealthy food. Processed and refined foods usually have unwholesome additives and offer empty calories to boot, so avoid prime examples such as:

•         White bread

•         White pasta

•         Sugary drinks and treats

•         Packaged snacks

You should, instead, give your immune system a boost by going for nutritious whole foods.

No Further Phlegm:

Whether it’s the common cold or acute bronchitis causing your chesty cough, you need to do what you can to avoid aggravating it. You don’t want that build-up of mucus in your chest to linger, so make sure you don’t take anything that will encourage it to fester.