Diet taboos for chronic pharyngitis

Avoid foods that will directly irritate the throat mucosa, avoid foods that will increase the burden of mucosal secretion, and avoid foods that you are clearly allergic to. Do not blindly avoid all other foods.

I myself have been suffering from chronic pharyngitis for almost 6 years. In the past two years, I took advantage of my youth and ate haphazard food. I went to the otolaryngology department on average once a month. I became familiar with the nurses in the outpatient clinic. I had a long list of pitfalls I had encountered. I also had many conversations with different doctors and patients. In fact, the food taboos are not as strict as everyone thinks.

When many people mention pharyngitis, they first think of not eating spicy food. In fact, this matter is really controversial. I have a patient in Chongqing who grew up eating spicy hotpot. Even if he has pharyngitis, he still eats mildly spicy hotpot without any problems. However, last time I was craving for spicy crayfish, I coughed so much that I couldn't sleep that night, and my throat was so sore that I couldn't even swallow water. After asking the doctor, I found out that if you have a habit of eating spicy food and there is no obvious tingling in the throat or aggravation of the foreign body sensation after eating, you don’t need to completely quit spicy food. However, if you have a constitution that makes your throat smoke when you eat a little spicy food, or you are in an acute attack of pharyngitis, you really should not touch strong irritating things such as chili peppers, high-strength liquor, and mustard. My friend who lost his voice after drinking three glasses of liquor at the company’s annual meeting last year is a living example. He did atomization for three days in a row before he could barely speak.

Harmful, what is worse than spicy is what many people think of as "throat soothing". For example, I always felt that my throat was uncomfortable, so I took mint candies and drank iced honey water. As a result, the more I drank, the stickier it became, and I couldn't even cough up the phlegm. Later, the doctor said that high-sugar foods will make the secretions of the throat mucosa thicker. The phlegm that can be coughed up will be directly stuck in the throat after drinking a cup of full-sugar milk tea, and it will not come out after half an hour of coughing. There is also the menthol in mint candies, which feels cool and comfortable when held in the mouth for a short period of time. In fact, it will destroy the protective barrier on the surface of the mucous membrane. Over time, it will become more dry as you eat it. I later changed the mint candies to pear paste without additives, and the dry throat condition was indeed improved a lot.

There is also the very hotly debated issue of whether you can touch iced drinks. The traditional Chinese medicine doctor I saw repeatedly warned you not to touch cold drinks, saying that it would damage the yang energy and aggravate pharyngitis. Later, a western medicine doctor said that it is not necessary to be so absolute. If the summer is really hot, it is okay to take a few sips of room-temperature and cool water. As long as you are not drinking tons of iced milk tea, and you don’t feel your throat tightening or the foreign body sensation after drinking, you don’t have to force yourself to drink only hot water that burns your mouth. My own experience shows that room-temperature mineral water and lemonade are perfectly fine. Drinking half a cup of iced Coke just taken out of the refrigerator will make you uncomfortable, so now I basically only drink room-temperature ones. Occasionally, if I get craving for a sip of ice, I won’t feel too much of a psychological burden. On the contrary, I won’t be tempted to drink too much at once just because I always think I can’t drink it.

Another category that is easily overlooked is the salty pickled food. Every year during the Chinese New Year, my family will dry cured fish and bacon. Last year, I greedily ate half a piece of cured fish. It was so salty that I drank three large glasses of water. When I woke up the next day, my throat was hoarse and the phlegm I coughed up was all salty. Later I learned that high-salt food can dehydrate the mucous membrane. When the already fragile throat mucosa comes into contact with high salt, it wilts like young grass that has been exposed to the sun, and the inflammation will of course worsen. Now when my family makes pickled food, I can only try one bite to satisfy my craving, and I never dare to eat more.

There is also the question of whether you can eat the "foods" that everyone often talks about, such as seafood, mutton, etc. Traditional Chinese medicine generally recommends eating as little as possible during the attack period. The view of Western medicine is that as long as you are not allergic to these foods, you can eat steamed or light foods. You don't need to blindly avoid foods that may lead to malnutrition. I am not allergic to shrimp. It is perfectly fine to eat steamed shrimp when I am not suffering from pharyngitis. However, if I eat it during an attack, I will feel a more obvious foreign body sensation. Therefore, I will not eat it for the time being during the attack, and I will not deliberately stop eating it at ordinary times.

In fact, there is really no need to make dietary taboos like imperial edicts. You can't eat this or that. On the contrary, it will make you feel bad. When your immunity is weakened, you are more likely to suffer from pharyngitis. The core is to feel more about the reaction of your throat. If you don't feel uncomfortable after eating, you don't have to quit hard. When you really get sick, just eat light food for a few days, such as millet porridge and steamed vegetables. It will be more effective than eating many expensive throat lozenges. After all, chronic pharyngitis is a three-part cure and a seven-part nourishment. You should just let your throat hurt a little more.