Can you drink milk when you have a cold?

Written by Liao Bin
Pulmonology
Updated on May 10, 2025
00:00
00:00

Whether you can drink milk when you have a cold depends on the specific condition. For those with a mild cold and no significant gastrointestinal symptoms, it is appropriate to drink warm milk. Since milk is rich in nutrients, containing high-quality protein, calories, amino acids, etc., it can be quite beneficial for the body's recovery. It also helps alleviate cold symptoms, especially easing symptoms like general body aches and fatigue. However, caution is needed for cold sufferers who have obvious gastrointestinal dysfunction, particularly those with gastro-intestinal type colds displaying nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea. It is advised not to drink milk in such cases to avoid worsening the gastrointestinal dysfunction and potentially prolonging the recovery period. Additionally, it is important to avoid taking milk with other medications during a cold, as it might affect the efficacy of the medications.

Other Voices

doctor image
home-news-image
Written by Hu Bai Yu
Pulmonology
1min home-news-image

How can I prevent a cold?

In everyday life, if you want to prevent colds, you need to pay attention to keeping warm and avoid catching cold from the wind. The most important thing is to actively participate in physical exercise to enhance your physique and improve your own resistance, which is crucial. To enhance your own resistance, you can improve it through some small details in your daily life, such as eating more fresh fruits and vegetables, supplementing vitamins, and also making sure not to stay up late at night, ensuring sufficient sleep to enhance your resistance. You should also pay attention to personal hygiene, washing your hands before meals and after using the toilet, and often open windows for ventilation to keep the indoor air fresh and circulating. Additionally, it is necessary to regularly disinfect the bedroom to eliminate bacteria and avoid bacterial infections. Also, pay attention to eating more warm, soft, and easily digestible foods.

doctor image
home-news-image
Written by Wang Chun Mei
Pulmonology
56sec home-news-image

Differences between air conditioning cold and common cold

Using air conditioning set too low, or staying in an air-conditioned room for a long time, can easily cause a cold due to the lack of air circulation. When a person's immune function is low, it is easy for viruses or bacteria to invade the respiratory tract, causing symptoms such as nasal congestion, runny nose, fever, headache, and dizziness. In the case of a common cold, it might be a heat-type cold or it could be a cold-type cold. Common colds are usually caused by viral infections of the respiratory tract, leading to clinical symptoms of discomfort. On the other hand, air conditioning colds often occur due to the air conditioning being set too cold, leading to cold-induced symptoms. Thus, there is a distinct difference between air conditioning colds and common colds, with the systemic symptoms caused by air conditioning colds being relatively more severe.

doctor image
home-news-image
Written by Wu Shu Jie
Traditional Chinese Medicine
47sec home-news-image

Can scraping (gua sha) treat a cold?

Gua Sha is one of the methods used in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) for treating and preventing diseases. It is often performed on the Bladder Meridian of Foot-Taiyang, which is located on the back of the human body. The Bladder Meridian of Foot-Taiyang is superficial and acts as the first line of defense when external pathogens invade the body. By scraping the Bladder Meridian of Foot-Taiyang, it stimulates the meridians and channels, enhances the body's immunity, and promotes the expulsion of pathogenic factors by strengthening the body’s vital energy. According to TCM, "when the vital energy is preserved within, pathogens cannot interfere." Therefore, scraping the Bladder Meridian of Foot-Taiyang can help in treating and preventing the common cold.

doctor image
home-news-image
Written by Li Jian Wu
Pulmonology
43sec home-news-image

Can you catch a cold during pregnancy?

Pregnancy is a normal physiological state for women to nurture a fetus. During pregnancy, factors such as a decrease in immunity, catching a cold, or malnutrition can lead to viral infections, causing symptoms of a cold. Whether a pregnant woman catches a cold mainly depends on her physical constitution, that is, her immune and resistance capacities. Pregnant women with a cold should avoid the indiscriminate and excessive use of medications, especially antibiotics, antiviral drugs, and hormonal products. It is important to drink plenty of water, rest adequately, and if medication is necessary, it should be chosen under the guidance of a doctor. (Medication should be used under the guidance of a doctor.)

doctor image
home-news-image
Written by Zhou Qi
Nephrology
44sec home-news-image

Is a cold dangerous for membranous nephropathy?

Patients with membranous nephropathy becoming ill with a cold is indeed quite dangerous. This is because, firstly, a cold often leads to the relapse or aggravation of membranous nephropathy, causing changes in the condition of the disease. Secondly, patients with membranous nephropathy often use corticosteroids and immunosuppressants to control the disease, and a major side effect of these medications is that they suppress the body's immune capability, making infections more likely to occur. Once an infection sets in, it can lead to septic shock and the inflammation of multiple organs, with potentially life-threatening consequences for some patients.