What do you eat when you are sick?

Not sure whether it was a virus or some bad food, but the result was that my digestive system cleared itself out quite thoroughly. I was exhausted and slept most of the morning, and wasn't ready to think about food until 1pm.

I had a cup of coffee -- I would say that I would have to be at death's door not to want a cup of coffee, but I feel fairly certain that a cup of coffee is exactly what I would want at death's door.

Then I ate some leftover Indian potato salad (made by more or less following the recipe for the inside of samosas). About 4pm I polished off some hummus, with crackers.

Not exactly what is recommended by health professionals, I suppose.

No husband home this week to ride to the rescue with chicken soup for dinner, and I am debating whether I have the energy to run out and buy anything, or what I should make from ingredients on hand.

Is it a sign that I have recovered, or a sign that I am crazy, that I think perhaps I could order out pizza?

What do you eat when you are sick?

Generally when I am sick I eat toast, soup, tea, applesauce, bananas and stuff like that. Occasionally I will have a cold and be really hungry for some reason. This is what I eat if I have a cold. Its important to keep the liquid flowing. If I have a diverticulitis attack, which I have not had thankfully for some time, all bets are off and I do not know exactlly what to eat. As little as possible until it passes. I do think you should stay away from heavy and greasy stuff like pizza, and junk food, etc until you feel well.

Judy H wrote:Is it a sign that I have recovered, or a sign that I am crazy, that I think perhaps I could order out pizza?

I think it's the former. I've been waylaid by flu three times in the last ten years, and didn't eat much of anything for a few days, other than loads of green tea and instant miso soup. But all three times, I woke up at some point feeling fever-free, clear-headed, and desperately craving pizza. Not fancy or high-quality pizza, but a big, greasy, floppy pie, from Cafe Luigi or Chi-Town Pizza. Something that had never graced the pages of Esquire, or appeared on Check, Please.

I'm with you: pizza is "on the mend" food. The NyQuil and tea cured your body, now the greasy pepperoni will cure your soul.

If I am not feeling well, I do hot & sour soup from a local shop. Liquid so it goes down, and spicy enough that I can taste it.

For me, a bowl of homemade spicy soon dubu jigae does the trick, or a bowl of pho.

Usually, when I am sick and have no appetite, I will be able to stomach some pizza. I find Tom Kha Gai really helpful in getting over a cold. And for some reason cottage cheese has been known to tide me over several bouts of nausea.

It depends. If you have the squirts, go for the BRATT diet...bananas, rice, apples, tea and toast. If you have something like gastroenteritis, pass on the dairy and sugar, a lesson I learned after the fact.

If I have a cold and I'm at home, I usually eat Mrs. Grass' soup, the plain original flavor. If I have to go to work, I get pho ga from Hoanh Long or Jewish chicken noodle soup from The Bagel (and possibly with a chopped liver sandwich on the side). If I have a sore throat, I use that excuse to have ice cream. I drink tea until I can't bear the thought of it anymore. I usually stay away from fruit juices unless I really crave it because with all that sugar, it would be more beneficial to just eat fruit. Mr. Pie swears by Dr. K's Cure All Noodle Soup from Amitabul.

If I have something like the flu and I'm weak and have no appetite, I start with Ensure. I love that stuff, it's terrible. It's creamy and loaded with sugar, but I miss the aluminum can taste now that it comes in plastic bottles. Once I start feeling better, I throw all caution to the wind and order whatever the hell I crave most without thinking of how bad it is for me. Last time when I was crazy sick, I was dying for a cheeseburger. Big, greasy, maybe with bacon, side of fries...so once I was strong enough to leave the house, that's what I did. It didn't take much longer to get back to normal, thus, cheeseburgers must be a superfood. I figured after three days of having to force myself to eat something as simple as a slice of bread, I deserved to have a full meal, no matter what it was.

I have been noted to eat the Mrs grass or Lipton noodle soup too when I am sick. I always have a few packets around. I second the idea of ensure too. sometimes you really do not need to eat food but need to swallow some nourishment to keep you going. I think when you are wanting pizza and burgers it means you are getting better. I also second the bratt diet when you are in distress and staying away from milk and dairy.

I usually eat congee (watered soggy rice). Depending how sick I am will depend on what I'll put in. If I have a fever/vomiting I'll usually have it plain, maybe add soya sauce as I don't like any taste to it. If I have a cold/headache/sore throat.... I'll have salmon congee (tastes soooo good) or thousand year preserved egg with pork congee.

Hi,

I once took an antibiotic on an empty stomach, I had dry heaves. It was so unpleasant, I began taking in water to simply have something to heave. This made life easier, because the alternative was like squeezing blood from a turnip.

Either I have not been very sick in a long time or never been quite ill enough, I don't have any favored foods while sick.

From reading some thoughts, it appears the reaction is to eat (as the British say) 'nursery food.' I haven't seen tapioca in there yet, though toast, bananas, tea and such fall into the 'nursery food' catagory.

I remember once reading an article about how people revert to childish expectations when ill. An example given was a husband who asked his wife for a glass of orange juice. She brought the small size glass, which was her idea of normal consumption. He was disappointed because it wasn't a large glass like his Mom served, who would rub his tummy as he drank it. How would the wife know the sick day routine was this large glass of orange juice and tummy rub.

Regards,

In my family, once you got past the toast and Vernor's only stage of illness, ham gravy on mashed potatoes was the preferred food. Ham gravy is just shaved ham in a milk gravy. I still love it when I am sick, though I've never met anyone outside my family who eats it.

Campbell's chicken noodle soup, which I add fresh drop egg dumplings to and a pile of buttered saltines. And a Ginger Ale. I dip the buttered cracker in the soup and then pile the noodles on top and eat it in one bite.

One time I was sick and eating this and after Eating several crackers I noticed that they were crawling with those microscopic red bugs. I remember being only mildly disgusted. The soup was still good.

Elin wrote:......In my family, once you got past the toast and Vernor's only stage of illness, ham gravy on mashed potatoes was the preferred food. Ham gravy is just shaved ham in a milk gravy. I still love it when I am sick, though I've never met anyone outside my family who eats it.

Wow Elin, that's a blast from the past. Mom used to make it for us, when we were sick, but we had it on toast. I haven't had it for years and your post actually made my mouth water.

Last night I made some for supper....



We didn't have bread so we had it on biscuits. It was a pretty good imitation of moms, it met my needs.

Thanks for reminding me of this long forgotten treat.

Tim

I'm another person who drags out the ingredients for Tom Kha Gai (Thai coconut chicken soup) when I'm feeling rotten. I have a deeply held notion that the ginger, garlic, lime and chicken all act together to bolster the system and nourish the weakened organs in a way superior to plain old chicken soup. It just feels so good!

Granted, this is for when I have a cold or other respiratory distress. If the upset were digestive, I move to water and tea and crackers, sometimes a bit of ginger ale.

Soup. Whatever's on hand. Or those crappy 15 cent ramen; A big bowl or hot ramen and broth is a great cold remedy, and if you add some protien and veg it's heaven.

Chicken Noodle soup and peanut butter and crackers is my go to. The soup is usually a canned version.

rtajani wrote:I usually eat congee (watered soggy rice). Depending how sick I am will depend on what I'll put in. If I have a fever/vomiting I'll usually have it plain, maybe add soya sauce as I don't like any taste to it. If I have a cold/headache/sore throat.... I'll have salmon congee (tastes soooo good) or thousand year preserved egg with pork congee.

I just made plain a few moments ago. My send up to BRATT.