Illness and Our Favorite Comfort Foods

Comfort food can be defined in many different ways. We use it to make ourselves feel better both emotionally and physically. In this case, we are looking at what people eat when they are sick. Usually, we eat foods that our mothers gave us when we were young, and we pass those ideas on to our children.

It is surprising how many recipes use chicken or chicken based products. Bouillon cubes and chicken broth are used in many recipes. There is even a chicken soup recipe that uses sweet potatoes and other vegetables which are pureed after being cooked and then reintroduced to the soup. Egg drop soup, plain chicken broth, or chicken with noodles are common comfort foods when people are sick, especially for colds.

Some of the sweeter ideas we use are actually not even foods but drinks. Gatorade, flat ginger ale, or 7-Up are a couple of the drinks. Some people like Coke or Pepsi to settle down an upset stomach. One drink is not even a drink but a dessert. It is warm Jell-O that is drunk before it has time to solidify. Hot toddies are remedies that are used by adults since the main ingredient is whiskey.

There is a wide variety of other foods. Toast with cinnamon and sugar, yogurt and ice cream, eggs scrambled or poached, crackers, peanut butter, rice, bananas, and Popsicles are a few more of the ideas handed down from our mothers, doctors, and friends. When we use comfort food during sickness, not only are we are looking for the foods that our bodies can tolerate, but also for the memory of being cared for, comforted, and loved.