At one time or another you have most likely had to play a match while you were suffering through a cold or some other viral illness. Athletes, coaches and trainers in a wide variety of sports continually debate whether or not an athlete should be allowed to play through the illness. In most cases, it’s fine to engage in competitive sports just as long as the athlete understands that their performance may suffer and that, in some cases, participation in rigorous exercise for several days may prolong the illness. This occurs because the body is already expending energy to fight the illness. When the person engages in physical activity the body then has to “re-shift” the energy being used to fight the invading organism (virus or bacteria) away from the immune system and to the muscles of the body in order to perform the physical activity.

Most people recover from the common viral cold in 7-10 days; but intense physical activity may lengthen this time period. In a worst-case scenario an individual who does not take the time to allow the body to recover from an illness may end up having to deal with a much more severe illness such as mononucleosis, or in some situations, some stage of a pneumonia. Both of these illnesses will greatly prolong recovery time and can actually lead to much more severe and life threatening illnesses as well. 

Now don’t be too alarmed … there is a relatively simple and easy regimen to follow in order to recover from a viral infection. Yes, Grandma was right … eat well-balanced, nutritious meals, drink plenty of fluids and get as much sleep as possible. Research has shown that the body heals itself much more rapidly if a person gets as much sleep as possible. And that’s sleep — not rest! During sleep, the body can “shut down” many of its systems and re-direct as much energy as possible to the immune system. Simply lying on the couch, resting, does not allow the body to “shut down” and thus it can not re-direct as much energy. 

Eating a well balanced diet high in foods containing antioxidants (i.e. Vitamins A, C and E, and selenium, a mineral) will aid the immune system in fighting illnesses. Examples of such foods are: citrus fruits, dark green, yellow, orange or red vegetables. On a similar note, the whole chicken soup notion might actually have some credibility! The healthy benefits reported from eating chicken soup may actually come from the healthy foods that are used to make it. These foods (e.g. protein from chicken, vitamins and minerals from vegetables, carbohydrates from pasta and water) are generally high in their respective nutrients. In addition, the warm fluid is often soothing to a sore throat, the chicken soup tastes good so you want to eat, even though you may not be hungry, and it is easily digestible — thus the body does not need to expend much energy to digest it.

If all else fails — remember, the average cold only lasts 7-10 days. So, buy an extra box of tissues, reschedule your racquetball matches for the following week and give your body the time it needs to recover.

As always – if you have questions you would like to have addressed here – just send me an email, at timscheett@hotmail.com.