Can children eat fish if they have a cough?

We usually encounter the problem of children coughing frequently, especially now that the weather is relatively dry. Children and parents who don’t like to drink water are prone to coughing and have phlegm in their throats. For this phenomenon, it is best to eat less fish, because fish is easy to produce phlegm and meat is easy to produce fire, so try to eat less of these two foods.

There are dietary taboos when you have a cold or cough. Many people are curious about the answer to whether you can eat fish when you have a cold or cough. Can you eat fish when you have a cold or cough?

Can I eat fish when I have a cold or cough?

Methods/Steps

Traditional Chinese medicine has a saying that "fish generates fire and meat generates phlegm". When you have a cough or bronchitis, you should eat less fish, shrimp, crab, fatty meat, etc., so as not to add fire to the generation of phlegm. In addition, greasy food can easily aggravate cough, which is not conducive to the recovery of colds and bronchitis. Therefore, it is better to eat light and easily digestible food when you have a cold and cough.

Among all fishy foods, silver carp, hairtail and other fish are most likely to aggravate cough symptoms, so patients should pay special attention to avoid eating these two types of fish. Some children with cough will have their cough aggravated after eating fish, which is related to the fishy smell irritating the respiratory tract and the allergy to the protein in fish and shrimp foods. Children who are allergic to certain fish or eggs should be especially careful to avoid these foods.

Can I eat fish when I have a cold or cough?

Whether children have a cold or a cough due to bronchitis, they should not eat too greasy food. Greasy food will increase the burden on the stomach and intestines. For children who are sick, poor digestion will also affect their recovery. Generally speaking, a normal person will feel uncomfortable for three or two days after eating a meal of greasy food, not to mention sick children. Eating too much fish and meat is definitely not good for children's health. Therefore, parents should not think that their children are sick and weak and feed them more chicken, duck, fish and meat. Doing so will only make things worse for their children's health.

Generally speaking, the gastrointestinal function of patients with colds has declined, and it is difficult for them to digest and absorb fat. A large amount of oil is distributed in the esophagus and throat, which is not conducive to the discharge of secretions. When gastrointestinal function is disordered, high-protein macromolecules such as eggs, lean meat, fish, etc. that have not been properly digested can enter the body through the damaged gastrointestinal mucosa and induce certain allergic diseases.

To sum up, it is best not to eat fish when you have a cold or cough.

It is not advisable to eat fish while taking cough medicine

Coughing is common in winter. Some patients will experience symptoms such as skin flushing, conjunctival congestion, dizziness, rapid heartbeat, and urticaria after taking cough suppressants. This may be because the patient also ate deep-sea fish, the culprit of which is histamine.

Tuna, sardines, carp and other fish contain more histidine. The bacteria remaining in the fish will convert it into histamine. When this substance enters the blood circulation in large quantities, it may cause allergic reactions. Cough syrups contain codeine, which can promote the release of histamine and make allergies more likely to occur.

It should be emphasized that the effect of codeine on histamine release generally lasts for two weeks, so it is best not to eat fish in the short term after stopping the medication.