How To Stay Hydrated During The Flu, Naturally

Winter in Connecticut is flu season.  Although there is a vaccine, I am a needle baby and conveniently forgot and have subsequently suffered the consequences.  The flu virus causes stuffiness, exhaustion, fever, headaches, muscle aches, and pains.  The number two cause of these symptoms (after the virus of course) is dehydration. Being too tired to eat and drink, plus sweating out fluids while feverish will leave you dehydrated, causing many of the aforementioned symptoms.

As a Registered Dietitian, I know that there is a right time and place for sports drinks, but when it comes to having the flu, there are many options available for rehydrating after a fever, but there are other options.

The theory behind drinking a sports drink is that it contains electrolytes.  Electrolytes are minerals in your blood and bodily fluids that help you maintain your body’s chemistry and help your muscles to function properly.  They leave the body when you sweat and urinate, and if they become out of balance, you can become dehydrated (or over-hydrated, depending on the situation, but not usually the case during the flu).  Replacing fluids alone won’t help you to rehydrate when you have had an electrolyte loss; the electrolytes need to be replaced as well.  There are many types of electrolytes, the most familiar being sodium and potassium.  While you can get electrolytes from sports drinks, you can rehydrate – easily – with natural options that you won’t have to make an extra trip to the store to pick up.

 

Water

Lots of it. Drink it constantly and slowly so as not to upset your stomach. Drink it cold, or warmed. Our bodies are made up of 60+% of water, and we need to replenish it, even when we aren’t ill.

Food

“Starve a cold, feed a fever” might be an old wives’ tale, but the “feed a fever” part is right on (feed the cold too). Eating foods with a high water content that contain natural sugar and sodium will help you to rehydrate. A study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that rehydrating with water plus food was more effective than rehydrating with a sports drink alone. Some good choices include vegetable or chicken noodle soup, or cucumber or melon with a pinch of salt.

Fluid Replacements Drinks

There are fluid replacement drinks on the market and that you can make at home that have no added sugar. Coconut water, watermelon juice, and cold-pressed juice contain natural sugars and electrolytes to help your body retain and utilize the fluid you drink before excreting it.

Decaffeinated Beverages

Alcoholic and caffeinated beverages act as diuretics and can deplete the body of essential fluids during illness when consumed in excess.  A better choice than a cocktail or a cappuccino would be decaffeinated tea or coffee.  Green tea (although it does contain a little caffeine) has immunity-boosting properties as well as a light flavor, making it easy to drink when under the weather.

 

In addition to staying hydrated with an illness such as the flu, it’s important to eat what feels good to your body and honor your internal cues of hunger and fullness.

Wishing you a speedy recovery.

 

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Beth Rosen

Eating Attitudes™ & Gut Expert

Beth Rosen, MS, RD, CDN is a Registered Dietitian and owner of Beth Rosen Nutrition. She practices a non-diet philosophy and is a Health at Every Size" practitioner. Her goal is to end the pain of diet culture, one person at a time. Beth's techniques and programs empower chronic dieters, and those who consider themselves emotional and /or stress eaters, to ditch the vicious cycle of dieting, eat fearlessly by removing Food and diet rules, and mend their relationship with food and their bodies. Beth's works face-to-face with clients in Southbury, CT, and virtually with clients, worldwide.

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