What foods and drinks make phlegm worse? (2023)

What drinks make phlegm worse?

Drinks containing caffeine, like black tea, coffee and soft drinks, accelerate mucus buildup. Swap these drinks for some caffeine-free alternatives (like decaf coffee and herbal teas) to reduce phlegm.

Things like allergies, eating spicy food, and being outside in the cold can result in a more watery nasal leakage. Your body usually makes thicker mucus when you have a cold (caused by viruses) or sinus infection (caused by bacteria).

Possible causes of excess mucus can be food allergies, an acid reflux from the stomach, or an infection. The consistency of mucus in the throat also varies depending on what is going on in your body. Common causes of too much mucus in the throat include a cold or flu, acute bronchitis, sinusitis or pneumonia.

Drinking club soda or hot tea with lemon, or sucking on sugar-free sour lemon drops may help break up mucus.

Banana is healthy and energising but should be avoided at night during winter only if the person is suffering from cough and cold or other respiratory ailments as it causes irritation when it comes in contact with mucus or phlegm.

So when it's hard to breathe because of mucus in your lungs, you have three things you can do to help move the mucus out: postural drainage, chest percussion, and controlled coughing. Use these techniques to help clear your lungs and make breathing easier.

Coughing up phlegm when you don't have a cold could be due to a number of different conditions: a sinus infection, allergies with postnasal drip, pneumonia, smoking, asthma, heartburn, or even some medicines like angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors for high blood pressure.

Stay away from cold foods and drinks

Especially if we have dry cough, cold foods and drinks may do more damage than good. Cold consumption may cause dryness in the throat, leaving your throat dry and itchy. This may worsen your cough.

Do cold drinks increase phlegm?

Drinking cold water does affect your body in ways you might not anticipate or want. An older and small study from 1978 , involving 15 people, found that drinking cold water made nasal mucous thicker and more difficult to pass through the respiratory tract.

Grapefruit is wonderful for breaking down excessive mucus and luckily is in season right now. I also love lemon or lime juice in warm water to hydrate (which helps expel mucus) and support immune function.

The acid in apples can clear out mucus in the mouth and throat, but, again, there are other foods that can do this better. “It's like thinning the oil in your car so it makes secretions easier to handle,” says Robert Sataloff, the chairman of Drexel University's otolaryngology department.

Histamine Dense foods

This makes the runny or stuffy nose. Hence, a person who is already suffering from cough and cold should avoid foods that are rich in histamines. Some foods to avoid are avocados, mushrooms, strawberries, dry fruits, alcohol, yogurt, vinegar and fermented foods.

Yogurt is undoubtedly one of the healthiest foods to load up on. However, the same good yogurt may end up doing more harm than good to your body, if consumed during a bout of sore throat. During cough, there is accumulation of phlegm in the chest and yogurt may worsen the cough by thickening the phlegm.

Also called upper airway cough syndrome, postnasal drip is a common cause of a persistent cough. When a virus, allergies, dust, chemicals, or inflammation irritate your nasal membranes, they make runny mucus that drips out of your nose and down your throat. This makes you cough, especially at night when you lie down.

Coughing and blowing your nose are the best ways to help mucus fight the good fight. “Coughing is good,” Dr. Boucher says. “When you cough up mucus when you are sick, you are essentially clearing the bad guys—viruses or bacteria—from your body.”

According to Medical News Today², common symptoms of mucus build up in your lungs may include: Wheezing. Difficulty Sleeping. Sore Throat.

So, to answer your questions: The phlegm itself isn't toxic or harmful to swallow. Once swallowed, it's digested and absorbed. It isn't recycled intact; your body makes more in the lungs, nose and sinuses. It doesn't prolong your illness or lead to infection or complications in other parts of your body.

Stay away from cold foods and drinks

Cold consumption may cause dryness in the throat, leaving your throat dry and itchy. This may worsen your cough.

Do hot drinks break down phlegm?

Liquids help thin out mucus. Warm liquids in particular can help clear out mucus in the chest and nose. This can relieve congestion, giving you a small respite from your symptoms.

Some foods, especially dairy-based foods, are known to cause excessive phlegm production. Eating foods like milk and cream can cause coughing after eating as the body tries to clear the phlegm from your airways.

Excess carbohydrates and refined sugar can also weaken good bacteria and, therefore, cause the body to produce mucus.

Milk consumption and phlegm production among people with the common cold in a clinical study showed no increased phlegm associated with drinking milk. Self-reported problems with mucus were the same between two study groups — one drinking milk and another drinking soy milk.

Drinking water helps to thin the mucus lining your airways and lungs. Dehydration can cause that mucus to thicken and get sticky, which slows down overall respiration and makes you more susceptible to illness, allergies and other respiratory problems.

What dissolves mucus in the lungs? Expectorants such as guaifenesin (Mucinex, Robitussin) can loosen mucus so that it comes out of the throat and chest.

According to Medical News Today², common symptoms of mucus build up in your lungs may include: Wheezing. Difficulty Sleeping. Sore Throat.

Lemon and honey- Mix a tablespoon of lemon juice, a tablespoon of honey and a glass of hot water and drink this as a tea. This will help in reducing coughs and loosening the thickness of the mucus. Lemons are an excellent source of vitamin C and are essential in getting rid of mucus-forming bacteria.

Is honey Good for mucus?

Well, despite it's own gooey texture, honey can actually be effective at breaking up mucus. In a World Health Organization (WHO) report on the treatment of upper respiratory infections for children, the org notes honey as a demulcent, meaning that it can help relieve irritation of the mucous membranes in your mouth.

Though they're always at work, you typically only notice the sticky substances when you're sick. Mucus and phlegm are similar, yet different: Mucus is a thinner secretion from your nose and sinuses. Phlegm is thicker and is made by your throat and lungs.