What do you eat when you're feeling ill?
By Denise
@petatonicsca (7070)
Japan
October 30, 2017 2:25am CST
I found, from living in various countries, that different cultures have different ideas of what we should eat when we are ill, either sick to stomach or cold.
In the US, we ate chicken noodle soup and saltine crackers after a stomach ailment.
In Japan, most people eat okayu (rice porridge, just plain cooked rice that was cooked with 5 times more water than usual.)
When I was in Germany, I was offered an apple when I felt sick.
This past week, I ate rice, bananas, applesauce, some chicken and chicken broth, and some okayu. Today I had some mandarin oranges.
What do you eat when you are not feeling well?
20 people like this
23 responses
@cynthiann (18602)
• Jamaica
31 Oct 17
Sour sop tea is so good for pearly stages of cancer. I have a tree in my garden.
1 person likes this
@petatonicsca (7070)
• Japan
31 Oct 17
@cynthiann I am interested in what sour sop is.
1 person likes this
@AkoPinay (11544)
• Philippines
31 Oct 17
@petatonicsca I like beef or pork or fish or shrimp/prawn with tamarind we call "sinigang" in Filipino. 
Sinigang na Baka is a tamarind-flavored soup made with beef ribs, kangkong, radish and gabi
@m_audrey6788 (58472)
• Germany
30 Oct 17
I love to eat chicken shell soup and a hot choco cappuccino 
1 person likes this
@petatonicsca (7070)
• Japan
31 Oct 17
I don't think I could handle a cappuccino! But soup is good for me.
1 person likes this
@rebelann (112983)
• El Paso, Texas
31 Oct 17
It depends on what ails me. The idea of an apple sounds good though.
@rebelann (112983)
• El Paso, Texas
31 Oct 17
It has been a long time since I have had any stomach problems @petatonicsca I suppose just drinking a clear soup would be the best solution.
@petatonicsca (7070)
• Japan
31 Oct 17
I like apples but not when I'm sick to my stomach.
1 person likes this
@hereandthere (45645)
• Philippines
30 Oct 17
okayu sounds like lugaw, which is rice cooked with a lot of water. some add ginger, chicken and/or boiled egg.
did you also live in germany?
1 person likes this
@LadyDuck (472087)
• Switzerland
31 Oct 17
@petatonicsca Rice is suggested when people have stomach problems, soups when the problem is a cold or a flu.
@petatonicsca (7070)
• Japan
31 Oct 17
Spicy would not have been good this time but I like to eat spicy food if I have sinus problems.
1 person likes this
@GardenGerty (160978)
• United States
30 Oct 17
A piece of ginger. Some fruit, some hot, salty soup.
@cynthiann (18602)
• Jamaica
31 Oct 17
I will drink coconut water as I live in Jamaica. However if the problem is gastric or digestive then I make a cup of ginger tea. I could never eat fruit though. I hope that you are okay now.
@prashu228 (37521)
• India
30 Oct 17
We Indian's eat the same rice porridge..rice cooked with more water..
@Jackalyn (7558)
• Oxford, England
30 Oct 17
I eat whatever I can in the house. It is just too far to go out to fetch food. This time round I had a lot of toast, but I did make a soup by throwing every vegetable in the larder into the crock pot and that kept me going. Once I got out I went for bananas, apples and grapes. Oh and a satsuma. I bought orange juice as for some reason satsumas and oranges are very expensive locally.
@Jackalyn (7558)
• Oxford, England
31 Oct 17
@petatonicsca THAT is a very good reason to have an emergency supply. I am building my store up again so I don't have another time I am ill and unable to go out.
@petatonicsca (7070)
• Japan
31 Oct 17
I decided it was good that I have a supply of "emergency food" because not only was I sick, we were having a typhoon.
1 person likes this
@petatonicsca (7070)
• Japan
31 Oct 17
Interesting how it affects your taste. This time, sweet tastes were sour to me.
1 person likes this
@Mareena (443)
•
31 Oct 17
@petatonicsca with fever n high temperature....my tongue always losses its taste sensation...but always a hot soup will do better
@Behindtheguitarbar (2831)
• Guangdong, China
31 Oct 17
@petatonicsca rice. Oats usually take for breakfast.
@japanesesamurai (2196)
• Japan
30 Oct 17
i think soup or soft foods are my choise.
i dont wanna eat much when i am sick.
@petatonicsca (7070)
• Japan
31 Oct 17
I see you live in Japan. Are you Japanese or a gaijin living in Japan?
1 person likes this
@japanesesamurai (2196)
• Japan
31 Oct 17
@petatonicsca i am an gaikojin,i dont like the word(gaijin).
how about you?
@Lolaze (5093)
• St. Louis, Missouri
31 Oct 17
I eat whatever I feel hungry for. The only exception would be rice if I'm feeling nauseous. Throwing up rice is not a pleasant experience.
@Hannihar (130213)
• Israel
31 Oct 17
I eat toast and do not drink tea anymore so have something to drink or hot water to drink. I know you are talking about what different countries have for remedies for what ails you so I could say we have chicken soup as the Jewish penicilin. When I am not well I usually do not like to eat or even get up to make the soup.
@almostoveryou (4805)
• Philippines
31 Oct 17
If chewing and swallowing aren't a problem, i eat my favorite foods. But if soft diet is required, i usually go for chicken noodle soup or oatmeal.
@rubyriaz007 (4188)
• India
31 Oct 17
I have soups or bread with tea or coffee when I am not feeling well. Three times a day I have it.I have light food when I am not well.
Sometimes I have an apple or banana.
@Datazngirl (217)
• United States
31 Oct 17
I'm Chinese, and in our culture when we are not feeling well, we would eat preserved tangerine peels that have been flavored. It comes in a package that you can buy from Chinatown or you can make your own. They help with dizziness, nausea, headaches and motion sickness. If I have a fever, I would drink ginger tea, but it has to be made with fresh ginger. If I had a fever, stomachache or other stomach problems, I would eat porridge, just plain porridge with some salt. If I feel nauseous, I would have to drink a soup that has freshly chopped ginger with some pork, and a fried egg. If I'm feeling extra cold, I would drink a soup that has roasted rice in it.
