Can I drink milk when I have a cold or cough? Why?

The diet of patients with cold and fever should be light, easy to digest, and rich in vitamins. Generally, liquid or semi-liquid food is the main food, such as rice soup, porridge, noodles, lotus root starch, etc., and some fresh fruits. So can you drink milk when you have a cold?

Can I drink milk when I have a cold?

Many people think that drinking milk when you have a cold is a bad idea because it causes more mucus to be produced. Protein is an essential substance for the body to repair itself. After the patient's fever subsides and during the recovery period, it is appropriate to supplement high-protein foods to help restore health as soon as possible. High-quality proteins include tofu, soy milk, eggs and deep-sea fish, but milk is easy to produce phlegm. Some people have low lactose tolerance and are prone to diarrhea. It is not recommended to use milk as a source of protein.

In fact, milk does not cause mucus production - you can drink as much as you like and it will not affect your cold.

During a cold, you can drink milk as long as you don't eat spicy and greasy foods that increase the burden on your stomach and intestines. Moreover, milk is rich in nutrients and is beneficial to your body's recovery. You should drink milk often in winter to maintain your health. It should be noted that you can reduce the amount of milk you drink.

But please note that you should not drink milk within 1 hour before or after taking the medicine.

It is best not to drink milk within 1-2 hours before or after taking the medicine. The specific reasons are as follows:

1. Affect drug release.

Since milk can easily form a coating on the surface of the drug, this coating will cause the calcium, magnesium and other minerals in the milk to react chemically with the drug and generate some water-insoluble substances, thereby causing certain obstacles to the release of the drug in the body.

2. Increase the risk of poisoning.

Cardiac glycoside drugs such as digitalis and digoxin are toxic to a certain extent. When taken with milk, the calcium in the milk can enhance the toxicity of these drugs, thereby increasing the risk of poisoning. In addition, dairy products also have a certain impact on the fluctuation of blood pressure, so patients with high blood pressure should pay special attention not to drink milk immediately after taking levofloxacin.

3. Affect absorption and reduce efficacy.

When milk is taken with drugs, the efficacy of the drugs can be reduced. Some tetracycline antibiotics, such as tetracycline, oxytetracycline, and doxycycline, can form complexes with calcium ions in milk in the intestine, greatly reducing the absorption efficiency of the drugs and thus weakening their efficacy. For example, ferrous sulfate, ferrous fumarate (ferrous iron), and ammonium ferric citrate are commonly used drugs for women and children with iron deficiency anemia. When milk is taken with these drugs, the efficacy of the drugs will also be reduced. The mechanism of action is that calcium ions can compete with iron in the duodenum, thereby reducing the absorption of iron.

Therefore, it is recommended that you do not drink milk within 1 hour before or after taking the medicine. If you experience severe physical discomfort, you should seek medical help immediately.