Although it is very annoying to treat phlegm or mucus, it is actually a good thing for your body. It acts as a lubricant helping food move through the gastrointestinal tract and protecting those tissues from acids and foreign particles.
Our bodies need phlegm, but if you're overproducing, something that can happen when you're fighting a cold, experiencing a sinus infection, or even fighting reflux, you may want to turn to your diet for some relief.
The food we eat can help improve or worsen the situation of the muscosa and, in some cases, it can be the main cause.
7 mucus-producing foods that can make phlegm worse
Chocolate
Your most loved dessert and snack could be contributing to your ongoing phlegm problem, especially if you have laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR) or gastroesophageal reflux (GERD).
Chocolate can weaken the upper and lower esophageal sphincters. These sphincters act as gatekeepers, keeping food and fluids in the right direction (downward) and preventing stomach acid from moving up into the esophagus, pharynx, and larynx.
If the sphincters weaken and stomach acid ends up where it doesn't belong, you can develop hoarseness, loss of voice, chronic cough, and phlegm in the back of the throat. To make matters worse, eating chocolate can also increase stomach acid production, compounding the problem.
Mint
Like chocolate, peppermint can make phlegm worse, especially if you have LPR or GERD. Peppermint herb can also weaken the upper and lower esophageal sphincters, making the situation worse.
Coffee
Sorry coffee lovers, but coffee can exacerbate your phlegm problems.
Like chocolate and peppermint, coffee also weakens the upper and lower esophageal sphincters, allowing stomach acid to flow back into the esophagus and throat. This irritation can lead to phlegm production.
Alcohol
Like the other foods and drinks on this list, alcohol can also weaken the upper and lower esophageal sphincters, causing irritation and phlegm.
Alcohol is also a diuretic, which means it can leave you dehydrated if you overdo it. When you are well hydrated, the phlegm becomes looser and moves faster; when you are dehydrated, you tend to linger longer.
Foods high in histamine
Although it is very rare (it affects approximately one percent of the population), another cause of diet-related phlegm accumulation can be due to an intolerance to histamine.
Our bodies contain histamine, but there are foods and beverages that also contain it, according to a November 2014 article in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. These foods include many fermented foods (such as cheese, yogurt, and sauerkraut), as well as processed meats and fish , cherries, aubergines, among others.
If you become intolerant, you could experience symptoms similar to a food allergy, including increased production of phlegm or mucus.
Carbonated drinks
You may like your diet soda or mineral water, but you may be doing more harm than good if you have a persistent phlegm problem. Carbonated drinks have more gas so they make us burp more.
Although this is not a problem for most, it may be for others because burping promotes the reflux of the contents of our stomach.
Top 9 food allergies
Milk, eggs, peanuts, soy, wheat, tree nuts , shellfish, fish and sesame make up the "Top 9" among the nine most common food allergies. Some classic symptoms of food allergies include itchy eyes and skin, hives, swelling around the eyes or tongue, dizziness, nausea, and vomiting.
If you are allergic to one of these foods, you may also experience symptoms in the lungs and throat region, such as increased production of phlegm, difficulty getting in and out of air, coughing, wheezing and throat inflammation, among others. Symptoms generally occur immediately or within minutes to two hours after eating the food.
4 foods that help eliminate mucus
Broth-based soups
The steam and hydrating fluids from hot broth-based soups like vegetables, chicken noodles, and the like can help loosen phlegm that builds up in your throat.
And when you're dehydrated, mucus doesn't clear from your throat as easily.
Clear liquids
Like soup, water, tea, and other hydrating drinks can help clear throat congestion and help prevent dehydration. They can also soothe the throat. You may want to skip the citrus (lemon in water, orange juice, etc.), if you have flow problems. Carbonated drinks like clear sodas can also be irritating.
Spicy foods
You may want to avoid spicy foods if you have reflux problems (which can make phlegm problems worse), but otherwise you might want to consider a bowl of spicy ramen.
An article published in the Cochrane Library in July 2015 found that capsaicin, the compound that brings heat to hot peppers, can reduce the thickness of mucus.
High fiber foods
Eating foods full of fiber, such as fruits, vegetables, legumes, and whole grains, can help reduce phlegm. An earlier study from April 2004, published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, found a correlation between increased fiber intake and decreased coughing with phlegm.
There was also a link with the consumption of fruits and soy-based foods. Note that this was a study that looked at the association between diet and the prevalence of cough with phlegm; more research is needed in this area.
