Can I eat seafood while taking cold medicine if I have a cold?

Written by Li Jian Wu
Pulmonology
Updated on May 15, 2025
00:00
00:00

After taking cold medicine, it is not recommended to eat seafood. Seafood is considered to have cooling properties. If you consume seafood after taking cold medicine, the ingredients can counteract each other. At minimum, it might reduce the effectiveness of the cold medicine, and at worst, it can affect your health, potentially causing abdominal pain and nausea. Therefore, it is important to avoid consuming seafood after taking cold medicine. You should opt for mild fruits and vegetables instead, avoid overly greasy, spicy, stimulating, and raw foods, and make sure to rest and recuperate slowly.

Other Voices

doctor image
home-news-image
Written by Ren Zheng Xin
Gastroenterology
47sec home-news-image

What fruits to eat for a stomach cold?

For a cold affecting the gastrointestinal system, it's advisable to consume fruits rich in vitamins, such as pears, watermelons, kale, and kumquats. These fruits can replenish fluids timely and have effects of clearing heat, detoxifying, and enhancing immunity. Additionally, during a gastrointestinal cold, it is important to timely choose medicine that soothes the liver and stomach, and clears heat and dampness for treatment. Other dietary considerations should focus on light foods, eating soft and easy-to-digest foods such as noodle soup, rice soup, porridge, vegetable soup, and drinking plenty of water, while paying attention to balancing work and rest. (Please use medication under the guidance of a doctor.)

doctor image
home-news-image
Written by Wang Lin Zhong
Pediatrics
1min 12sec home-news-image

Is a baby more likely to catch a cold if they are deficient in zinc?

Babies with zinc deficiency are prone to catching colds, as zinc is an important trace element in the human body. When zinc is deficient, it significantly impacts the baby’s immune system, making them susceptible to catching colds, repeatedly suffering from respiratory infections, and experiencing a prolonged duration of illness. Zinc plays a critical physiological role in the growth and development of the human body, regulates the development of the immune system, and is crucial for sexual maturation. Besides causing repeated respiratory infections, zinc deficiency can also lead to stunted growth and development. Zinc-deficient babies are noticeably shorter and weigh less than their peers, potentially leading to poor appetite, anorexia, and even pica, a condition where children may crave non-food items like paper, soil, or coal slag. Zinc-deficient children are also prone to various types of dermatitis, such as mouth ulcers, glossitis, and various skin diseases. In severe cases of zinc deficiency, it can lead to delayed development of secondary sexual characteristics.

doctor image
home-news-image
Written by Hu Bai Yu
Pulmonology
1min 21sec home-news-image

What to eat during a cold in the lactation period?

If you have symptoms of a cold during the breastfeeding period, it is important to distinguish between different types. Colds can be categorized into types such as wind-heat cold and wind-cold cold. For wind-heat colds, symptoms usually include sore throat, pain, or dry and itchy throat. In such cases, it is advisable to take some medicine that clears heat and detoxifies, or medicine that provides cooling relief from exterior symptoms. You can also drink some herbal teas to alleviate the symptoms. When taking medicine, it is crucial to do so under the guidance of a doctor and to use medicine that specifically addresses your symptoms. This is especially important during the breastfeeding period, as indiscriminate use of medicine could potentially impact the baby's growth and development. For wind-cold colds, it is suggested to take some heat-clearing granules to treat and alleviate symptoms. It's also important to keep warm, avoid exposure to cold and drafts, and you might drink some brown sugar ginger tea to eliminate inner cold and alleviate symptoms. Additionally, soaking your feet in warm water at night can promote blood circulation and relieve fatigue from the day.

doctor image
home-news-image
Written by Guo Xiao Yun
Pulmonology
1min 3sec home-news-image

Is a sore throat caused by a cold with wind-cold or a cold with wind-heat?

Sore throat may be caused by a cold due to wind-cold or wind-heat, which are terms used in traditional Chinese medicine. However, from a Western medicine perspective, both wind-cold and wind-heat colds are caused by viral infections, and in rare cases, bacterial infections. When bacteria or viruses invade the respiratory tract's mucous membranes, especially the mucous membranes of the throat, it leads to congestion and swelling of the throat mucosa, increased exudation of inflammatory secretions, resulting in symptoms such as sore throat, throat discomfort, and coughing up phlegm. Therefore, a sore throat could be due to a cold caused by wind-cold or wind-heat. In such cases, it is appropriate to take some anti-cold medications or some Chinese patent medicines to alleviate the symptoms.

doctor image
home-news-image
Written by Zhang Shu Kun
Traditional Chinese Medicine
38sec home-news-image

Does Yin deficiency make one prone to catching a cold?

Patients with Yin deficiency are prone to catching colds. However, generally speaking, it does not cause colds. It might be that some individual patients are prone to colds, so it varies from person to person, and there is no specific situation. Yin deficiency mainly causes physical weakness, poor health, and reduced immunity, which can then easily lead to colds and other symptoms. Therefore, if Yin deficiency occurs, it is crucial to treat it promptly with medication and also to eat more foods that nourish Yin and supplement Yang in the diet.