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| Getting sick doesn't mean you have to go off Keto. Here's how to eat when you come down with the flu. |
Last Updated: 12/15/2020
It's flu season, so a few dieters have begun asking what to eat on Keto when you come down with a cold or flu, so you don't get kicked out of ketosis.
A couple of years ago, just when we thought we had the pre-diabetes thing completely worked out, and had turned low carb into a family affair, life tossed us another challenge:
Pneumonia and the flu.
It started out with hubby catching a cold from working on his latest construction project at a nearby hospital.
Despite treating himself with over-the-counter meds, that dang cold just kept hanging on and hanging on. I think he must have had it for a couple of weeks before it turned deadly on us.
Despite treating himself with over-the-counter meds, that dang cold just kept hanging on and hanging on. I think he must have had it for a couple of weeks before it turned deadly on us.
Not so for hubby, so we ended up taking him to urgent care because he said that it felt like he had an elephant sitting on his chest. He was struggling to breathe and the cough medicine he'd been taking for the past two weeks had stopped working.
Urgent care ran a bunch of tests on him, including a test for the latest flu virus at that time. (That test is definitely not fun. He said it felt like they were pulling some of his brain out of his skull through his nose.)
They also checked his ears for an infection and ex-rayed his chest for pneumonia.
Four hours later, the diagnosis was pneumonia and the flu combined, which sent the doctor into a panic.
He wrote hubby a digital prescription for TamiFlu and an inhaler, and then stressed the urgency of going to the emergency room at a nearby hospital, so they could admit hubby and treat him for the pneumonia.
The doctor said he didn't have a way to check hubby's heart, and sometimes, pneumonia can cause a heart attack, so he wanted to make sure that hubby understood the seriousness of the problem.
Even though the doctor didn't know that I had started coughing already, he emphatically stated that I needed to be on flu meds since I'd been heavily exposed due to hubby.
He wrote my name down in hubby's notes and wrote me out a prescription for TamiFlu by hand. It wasn't digital since I wasn't the patient.
We spent another 6 hours at the hospital emergency room, just waiting to see a doctor.
The physician's assistant did give hubby a breathing treatment, some prednisone pills, and took more chest ex-rays because they wouldn't accept the ex-rays that urgent care sent with us. He said they needed their own ex-rays to be in their system.
When we finally saw the doctor 6 hours later, she said she didn't think that hubby had the flu because the flu doesn't start with a cold. She said his lungs sounded good, but that their ex-rays showed that he did have some pneumonia.
He wrote my name down in hubby's notes and wrote me out a prescription for TamiFlu by hand. It wasn't digital since I wasn't the patient.
We spent another 6 hours at the hospital emergency room, just waiting to see a doctor.
The physician's assistant did give hubby a breathing treatment, some prednisone pills, and took more chest ex-rays because they wouldn't accept the ex-rays that urgent care sent with us. He said they needed their own ex-rays to be in their system.
When we finally saw the doctor 6 hours later, she said she didn't think that hubby had the flu because the flu doesn't start with a cold. She said his lungs sounded good, but that their ex-rays showed that he did have some pneumonia.
Since hubby had already tested positive for the flu at urgent care, he went ahead and filled all the prescriptions we had been given at Walmart. But apparently, the hand-written prescription that the doctor had wrote out for me was not legible, so we were not able to get it filled.
The pharmacist called the doctor's office the following morning, but the doctor wasn't there.
The problem?
Apparently, the type of TamiFlu the doctor ordered for me didn't exist.
I explained the situation to the pharmacist, that I was not the patient and the orders were in hubby's medical notes, not mine, but the pharmacist told us that we would have to go back to the doctor and get a new prescription ourselves.
This was a Friday, and since the doctor wasn't there, going back to urgent care wouldn't have done me any good.
Plus, hubby wasn't willing to pay for another doctor's visit and more tests on me just because the pharmacist didn't want to make a second phone call on Monday.
Instead, we picked up some over-the-counter TheraFlu to try and nip my problem before it got out of hand like hubby's had. What we didn't think about at that time was Keto. All hubby was thinking about was keeping us out of the hospital.
Overall, the meds worked great. Hubby did not have to go back to the hospital. The anti-bacterial meds did their job very well.
What to Do About Meds
First, let me say that the strain of flu that hubby had back then was nasty stuff.
Thinking about sugar-free meds suitable for those with pre-diabetes was the last thing on our mind when we stopped at Walmart the following day, after switching to Plan B.
We simply went into automatic mode and picked up a combo of DayQuill and NyQuill liquid, plus two bottles of TheraFlu.
Being sick automatically increases your stress hormones, and therefore your blood glucose and insulin levels, so it's a good idea to think about what you're going to do right now, before you get sick.
We stuck with 20 carbs per day, or less, to try and offset the damage from the meds. Hubby even stopped drinking his gluten-free apple cider for a week, but only because it didn't taste good.
The flu messed with our taste buds.
Every single thing I ate tasted extremely salty.
Gaggy salty.
I could hardly eat the sauteed shrimp that I made for Valentine's Day.
Neither of us could taste anything sweet, either, so everything was bitter, as well.
As a result, the meds tasted horrible, even with the high-fructose corn syrup, but somehow, we managed to gag them down.
TheraFlu, DayQuill, and Nyquill are liquids and not sugar free, and I have not researched diabetic medications before this happened to us, so my blood glucose level went up.
This caused the neuropathy to flair up again for me, but I considered it a temporary inconvenience and better than letting the flu get out of hand.
Pills are often a better choice for pre-diabetics, since they don't contain sugars, but since hubby and I are celiacs, we don't break down pills very well and have found that liquid meds work best over pill forms.
But this is just us.
They do make a diabetic form of liquid Robitussin. It's called Sugar-Free Diabetic Tussin. But it contains the same active ingredient as the Mucinex I take frequently, so it wouldn't have been as effective for me as the TheraFlu was.
NyQuill and DyQuill do come in soft gels, which would have been a better option for me since the soft gels would have been sugar free.
The liquid meds didn't resurrect the neuropathy for hubby, but he is not as insulin resistant as I am.
I also gained a few pounds back then, due to the corn syrup in the meds.
What to Eat on Keto When Sick with a Cold or Flu?
Both of our appetites plunged big time, once we got sick. Food didn't taste good and some of it was nauseating, so I had to readjust what I was cooking and serving.
Breakfast: Mostly Soups
The scrambled eggs we love so much was far too heavy. I like to load them up with chopped meats, vegetables, and cheese.
So, mostly I heated up soup for breakfast.
Chicken vegetable is what we ate for the first few days. I made the soup using Knorr chicken flavor bouillon (which is no longer gluten free, by the way), but you could easily make your own chicken broth if you like.
Chicken vegetable is what we ate for the first few days. I made the soup using Knorr chicken flavor bouillon (which is no longer gluten free, by the way), but you could easily make your own chicken broth if you like.
I also added some chicken breast cut into chunks and a bag of frozen stir-fry vegetables that we picked up at CostCo.
For the second batch of soup, I used mixed vegetables, which are a bit higher in carbs than the stir-fry variety, due to the peas, corn, and lima beans, but we were not eating much throughout the day, so we still never went over 20 carbs.
For the second batch of soup, I used mixed vegetables, which are a bit higher in carbs than the stir-fry variety, due to the peas, corn, and lima beans, but we were not eating much throughout the day, so we still never went over 20 carbs.
For our more recent illness (hubby tested negative for Covid-19, thank goodness), I used mixed vegetables, onions, portabella mushrooms, and either pulled pork or chopped, cooked, beef brisket.
Toward the end of the week, I made a ham chowder with cubed ham, frozen peas and carrots, and a little green onion. I used chicken bouillon and some heavy cream.
A ham and green bean soup would also make a nice breakfast when sick. You simply toss it all into the crock pot the night before and let it cook until the beans are nice and soft.
Cabbage is also quite soft when you simmer it in our Magic Soup recipe.
Toward the end of the week, I made a ham chowder with cubed ham, frozen peas and carrots, and a little green onion. I used chicken bouillon and some heavy cream.
A ham and green bean soup would also make a nice breakfast when sick. You simply toss it all into the crock pot the night before and let it cook until the beans are nice and soft.
Cabbage is also quite soft when you simmer it in our Magic Soup recipe.
Another option for breakfast is to make your own ketogenic protein shakes.
When we could tolerate eggs, I made a small piece of ham or a few slices of bacon to go with a fried egg or two, instead of scrambling the eggs. I'm not sure why the body was rejecting scrambled eggs back then, but it was, so I listened to what the body wanted.
For the first few days, we ate soup for both breakfast and lunch.
When we could tolerate eggs, I made a small piece of ham or a few slices of bacon to go with a fried egg or two, instead of scrambling the eggs. I'm not sure why the body was rejecting scrambled eggs back then, but it was, so I listened to what the body wanted.
Lunch: Chicken and Soft Vegetables
For the first few days, we ate soup for both breakfast and lunch.
As the meds began to do their thing, however, our appetite got better.
I started baking chicken legs or sauteeing chicken breast and cooking up super-soft vegetables like frozen spinach or canned green beans on the side.
I used strictly butter for cooking because I didn't know how the tummy was going to accept coconut oil or olive oil. I have trouble digesting fats, and didn't want to add that to whatever was going on with me.
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| Keep your meals simple and plain like this herb-and-butter chicken recipe. |
I used strictly butter for cooking because I didn't know how the tummy was going to accept coconut oil or olive oil. I have trouble digesting fats, and didn't want to add that to whatever was going on with me.
Later on, when we were able to handle a stir-fry, I did use a bit of olive oil, which I handled just fine.
Low-fat cottage cheese with a little sugar-free canned fruit and Carbmaster Yogurt (available at Kroger stores) were also great side dishes for lunches.
Hard cheese didn't sit very well on the stomach until later on in the week, once we were able to move to heartier foods.
The only pork I had in the house two years ago was greasy sausage and some very lean pork chops that cooked up tough, even in the crockpot, so we mostly ate baked salmon patties that we picked up at Costco.
Low-fat cottage cheese with a little sugar-free canned fruit and Carbmaster Yogurt (available at Kroger stores) were also great side dishes for lunches.
Hard cheese didn't sit very well on the stomach until later on in the week, once we were able to move to heartier foods.
Dinner: Salmon, Beef, Game Hen and More Soft Vegetables
The only pork I had in the house two years ago was greasy sausage and some very lean pork chops that cooked up tough, even in the crockpot, so we mostly ate baked salmon patties that we picked up at Costco.
Also, hand-formed hamburger patties sauteed and topped with mushrooms made for an easy dinner.
Sometimes, we shared a game hen.
Vegetables were still on the soft side, even when I steamed the stir-fry vegetables, to make them easier to digest. Nothing tasted good anyway, so it didn't really matter that they were over cooked and on the mushy side.
Hubby really likes spinach and green beans, so we ate those a lot during that time.
He started asking for colorful, raw, sliced sweet pepper strips with Ranch Dressing and snacked on Kirkland Signature Steak Strips jerky we picked up at Costco.
Once, he also sliced up some salami that I had bought just before we got sick and some cheddar cheese, but I wasn't able to eat very much of that. I put half of it back in the refrigerator for later.
We honestly didn't do much snacking, but towards the end of the week when our appetite began to return, snacks for me were mostly CarbMaster yogurt, low-fat cottage cheese, or a hard-boiled egg.
Being sick does affect your weight, and there isn't a whole lot you can do about it.
Just before we got sick 2 years ago, I'd managed to drop to just below 200 pounds, about 198 or so. That was a decent 8 pound loss for the first month on Induction.
Even though I got off to a slow start, this was more than I'd ever lost on Induction before, if you don't count my very first Atkins experience in 1975.
However, once I got sick, and I started taking the TheraFlu and cough meds, my blood glucose went up. As a result, several of those pounds came back, and I bounced up as high as 202 during the week.
When I tested my blood glucose just before I first wrote this post, it wasn't anywhere near the diabetic level that it was several weeks prior, just before I returned to a very low-carb diet, so I'm extremely happy about that.
Eating at an Induction level of carbs with the meds did produce much higher than normal blood sugars -- just no where near the danger zone. The highest reading I got back then was 125 mg/dl an hour after eating.
After being off the cough meds for a couple of days I weighed in that morning at just above 200 pounds, about 200.6 I think it was, so the weight was starting to come back off once I was no longer taking the meds.
I could feel my appetite shrinking, so knew that I was either back in ketosis already or very close to it.
Vegetables were still on the soft side, even when I steamed the stir-fry vegetables, to make them easier to digest. Nothing tasted good anyway, so it didn't really matter that they were over cooked and on the mushy side.
Hubby really likes spinach and green beans, so we ate those a lot during that time.
Snacks:
As the week went on, hubby's appetite came back, so he got more daring with food.He started asking for colorful, raw, sliced sweet pepper strips with Ranch Dressing and snacked on Kirkland Signature Steak Strips jerky we picked up at Costco.
Once, he also sliced up some salami that I had bought just before we got sick and some cheddar cheese, but I wasn't able to eat very much of that. I put half of it back in the refrigerator for later.
We honestly didn't do much snacking, but towards the end of the week when our appetite began to return, snacks for me were mostly CarbMaster yogurt, low-fat cottage cheese, or a hard-boiled egg.
Being Sick Does Affect Your Weight
Being sick does affect your weight, and there isn't a whole lot you can do about it.
Just before we got sick 2 years ago, I'd managed to drop to just below 200 pounds, about 198 or so. That was a decent 8 pound loss for the first month on Induction.
Even though I got off to a slow start, this was more than I'd ever lost on Induction before, if you don't count my very first Atkins experience in 1975.
However, once I got sick, and I started taking the TheraFlu and cough meds, my blood glucose went up. As a result, several of those pounds came back, and I bounced up as high as 202 during the week.
When I tested my blood glucose just before I first wrote this post, it wasn't anywhere near the diabetic level that it was several weeks prior, just before I returned to a very low-carb diet, so I'm extremely happy about that.
Eating at an Induction level of carbs with the meds did produce much higher than normal blood sugars -- just no where near the danger zone. The highest reading I got back then was 125 mg/dl an hour after eating.
After being off the cough meds for a couple of days I weighed in that morning at just above 200 pounds, about 200.6 I think it was, so the weight was starting to come back off once I was no longer taking the meds.
I could feel my appetite shrinking, so knew that I was either back in ketosis already or very close to it.
My latest cold was no where near this disabling.
But I pretty much still ate what I ate before. Mostly soups, lean meats, and super-soft vegetables.
If you happen to catch a cold or the flu, try not to stress out too much about what your weight is doing. Your body needs resources to fight off viral and bacterial infections, and in some cases that means glucose.
I realize that the low-carb community is very anti-glucose, but I choose to not stress out about body systems designed to help us stay alive.
Don't Stress When Sick - Just Do the Best You Can
If you happen to catch a cold or the flu, try not to stress out too much about what your weight is doing. Your body needs resources to fight off viral and bacterial infections, and in some cases that means glucose.
I realize that the low-carb community is very anti-glucose, but I choose to not stress out about body systems designed to help us stay alive.
Stressing out about how the body chooses to handle the incoming threat of a cold or flu is only going to be counterproductive over the long-term, but that doesn't mean you have to eat high-carb foods.
There are plenty of low-carb options you can have while sick.
Low carb isn't a diet.
I know I say this a lot, but it seems to be one of the more difficult concepts for newbies to embrace.
Low carb is a lifestyle choice you make, so gaining a few pounds while your body does what it needs to do to help you recover your health when sick isn't a big deal.
Really. It's not.
Getting sick is just one of the challenges of life that you cannot avoid, and how you mentally and emotionally handle that challenge is what matters most.
If you go into reaction mode, and struggle and fight against your body's efforts to heal, you're just going to delay the healing process. Healing takes good nutrition and time.
If you give your body what it needs like:
The aim isn't to do low carb perfectly.
The aim is to make low carb your way of life, so if you can't get sugar-free meds, you can't get sugar-free meds.
Don't sweat it.
Just do the best you can like I did. Accept responsibility for your choices. And embrace the consequences.
When you treat your body kindly, it will return that kindness.
Once you're feeling better, and you've given yourself a practical length of time to recover, then you can make adjustments to your eating plan, if necessary.
While you're sick, however, isn't the time to worry about whether you're losing body fat, or not, so show yourself a little self-compassion and do what needs to be done to take good care of yourself.
Accountability isn't just about adhering to a diet. Accountability includes being 100 percent responsible for all areas of your life.
There are plenty of low-carb options you can have while sick.
Low carb isn't a diet.
I know I say this a lot, but it seems to be one of the more difficult concepts for newbies to embrace.
Low carb is a lifestyle choice you make, so gaining a few pounds while your body does what it needs to do to help you recover your health when sick isn't a big deal.
Really. It's not.
Getting sick is just one of the challenges of life that you cannot avoid, and how you mentally and emotionally handle that challenge is what matters most.
If you go into reaction mode, and struggle and fight against your body's efforts to heal, you're just going to delay the healing process. Healing takes good nutrition and time.
If you give your body what it needs like:
- soft low-carb foods
- plenty of sugar-free liquids
- a calm environment
- and plenty of rest
The aim isn't to do low carb perfectly.
The aim is to make low carb your way of life, so if you can't get sugar-free meds, you can't get sugar-free meds.
Don't sweat it.
Just do the best you can like I did. Accept responsibility for your choices. And embrace the consequences.
When you treat your body kindly, it will return that kindness.
Once you're feeling better, and you've given yourself a practical length of time to recover, then you can make adjustments to your eating plan, if necessary.
While you're sick, however, isn't the time to worry about whether you're losing body fat, or not, so show yourself a little self-compassion and do what needs to be done to take good care of yourself.
Accountability isn't just about adhering to a diet. Accountability includes being 100 percent responsible for all areas of your life.
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