When you’re sick, the best foods are ones that keep you hydrated, provide enough protein and calories to fuel your immune system, and don’t make nausea or digestive symptoms worse. The specifics depend on what kind of sick you are: a cold or flu calls for a different approach than a stomach bug. Here’s what actually helps, and what you can skip.
If You Have a Cold or Flu
Respiratory illnesses burn through energy and fluids fast. Fever alone increases your body’s calorie and protein needs by roughly 20 to 25 percent above normal. Your immune system is churning out antibodies and inflammatory signals, and it needs fuel to do that work. The goal is to eat enough protein and calories to prevent muscle breakdown while staying well hydrated.
Brothy soups are the classic recommendation for good reason. They deliver fluid, salt, and a small amount of protein in a form that’s easy to get down even when your appetite is gone. Adding shredded chicken or turkey bumps the protein content meaningfully. Warm liquids also help loosen nasal congestion and soothe irritated airways.
Scrambled eggs are one of the most nutrient-dense foods you can manage when you feel awful. They’re soft, require almost no chewing, and pack about 6 grams of protein per egg. Oatmeal made with milk is another solid option, giving you both energy and some protein without demanding much of your stomach.
For a sore throat specifically, honey performs surprisingly well. A systematic review in BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine found that honey reduced cough frequency and severity compared to standard care, and worked about as well as the common cough suppressant dextromethorphan. It also outperformed diphenhydramine (the antihistamine in many nighttime cold medicines) for cough relief. A spoonful in warm tea or eaten straight coats the throat and calms irritation. Just don’t give honey to children under one year old.
Zinc lozenges may also shorten your cold. Clinical evidence suggests that sublingual zinc (the kind you dissolve in your mouth) can resolve symptoms about two days earlier than placebo. The delivery method matters: lozenges and nasal formulations using zinc acetate or zinc gluconate have the most research behind them.
If You Have a Stomach Bug
With nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea, the priority shifts. You’re losing fluids and electrolytes rapidly, and your gut lining is inflamed. Eating too much too soon can make things worse, but eating too little for too long slows your recovery.
You’ve probably heard of the BRAT diet: bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast. It’s fine for the first day when you’re at your sickest, but the Cleveland Clinic and the American Academy of Pediatrics no longer recommend sticking to it beyond that. It’s too restrictive and lacks the nutrients your gut needs to heal. Following it for more than 24 hours may actually delay recovery, especially in children.
Instead, once you can keep food down, expand to other bland, soft foods: boiled potatoes, saltine crackers, dry cereal, oatmeal, and brothy soups. As your stomach settles, add scrambled eggs, skinless chicken, and cooked vegetables. The general guidance is to eat as tolerated. If something stays down and doesn’t make you feel worse, keep eating it.
Ginger genuinely helps with nausea. Clinical trials have used dosages ranging from 250 mg to 2 grams per day, split into three or four doses, with no added benefit from the higher end of that range. Fresh ginger tea (a thumb-sized piece steeped in hot water), ginger chews, or ginger ale made with real ginger all count.
Staying Hydrated Matters More Than Food
If you eat almost nothing for a day or two, you’ll be fine. If you stop drinking fluids, you can get into trouble quickly. Vomiting, diarrhea, fever, and even heavy mouth breathing from congestion all pull water out of your body faster than normal.
Water is the baseline, but it doesn’t replace the sodium and potassium you lose through sweat and diarrhea. Oral rehydration solutions, diluted sports drinks, coconut water, and broth all help replenish electrolytes. Popsicles and ice chips work well when drinking feels like too much. Small, frequent sips are easier to keep down than gulping a full glass.
Dark yellow or amber urine is a reliable sign you’re not drinking enough. If you or someone you’re caring for stops urinating entirely, develops a rapid heartbeat, becomes confused, or faints, that signals severe dehydration that needs medical attention.
If You’re Taking Antibiotics
Antibiotics kill the bacteria making you sick, but they also wipe out beneficial gut bacteria, which is why diarrhea is such a common side effect. Probiotic-rich foods can help. Yogurt with live cultures, kefir, and fermented foods like sauerkraut or miso all introduce helpful bacteria back into your digestive tract.
The strains with the strongest evidence for preventing antibiotic-related diarrhea are Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG and Saccharomyces boulardii (a strain of brewer’s yeast). If you’re using a supplement, preparations containing at least 5 billion colony-forming units per day showed the best results in clinical trials, though even lower doses offered some protection.
Foods to Avoid While Sick
Greasy, fried, or heavily spiced foods are harder to digest and more likely to trigger nausea when your stomach is already irritated. Alcohol dehydrates you further and suppresses immune function. Caffeine in large amounts also acts as a mild diuretic, though a single cup of coffee or tea is unlikely to cause problems and may help you feel more human.
One thing you don’t need to avoid: dairy. The idea that milk increases mucus production during a cold is a persistent myth, but clinical evidence doesn’t support it. Research dating back decades, including studies in children with asthma, found no difference in mucus or respiratory symptoms between dairy milk and non-dairy alternatives. What does happen is that milk and saliva mix to form a slightly thick coating in the mouth and throat, which people mistake for extra phlegm. If dairy doesn’t bother your stomach, yogurt, milk, and cheese are perfectly fine protein sources while you’re sick.
Putting It Together
Your body needs more protein during illness than it does on a normal day. Healthy adults typically need about 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight daily; during an active infection, that rises to around 1 gram per kilogram. For a 150-pound person, that’s roughly 68 grams of protein per day. You don’t need to count precisely, but aim to include a protein source at every meal or snack: eggs, chicken, yogurt, or even protein-enriched broth.
Beyond protein, focus on whatever sounds tolerable. Fruits like bananas and applesauce provide easy-to-digest carbohydrates and potassium. Cooked vegetables are gentler than raw ones. Warm foods tend to feel more soothing than cold ones during respiratory illness, while the opposite is often true for nausea and sore throats, where cold or frozen foods feel better going down. Listen to what your body can handle, eat when you can, and prioritize fluids above everything else.