Food for sick people

When my aunt was going through her last days of cancer, she had a very restricted diet and I felt helpless. I realized that I could make her food but didn't have any recipes in my head that weren't so utterly boring. So I've been looking into different cultures and their standards for sick people food.

I think the big commonalities I see are minimal ingredients with simple flavors and lots of liquid.

If you don't know, ASK what they want and make that.

Foods

One thing to know is that some people LOVE super spicy or a ton of garlic when they are sick, but in my experience it's when people have a cold or a runny nose, not like a stomach bug or diarrhea.

• Soup
  • Congee
  • Avgolemono
  • Matzo ball soup
  • Tomato soup and saltines or a grilled cheese (may be too much, depending on sickness)
  • Noodle/pastini soup with dumplings
  • Pho
• Basic bread/simple starch items
  • Vegemite toast and slices of green apple
  • Saltines
  • Plain or buttered toast (probably white bread)
  • Plain mashed/boiled potatoes
  • Basic oatmeal
• Simple fruits
  • Apple slices

Drinks

Most important: a whole SHITLOAD of water.

• Lemon/lime tea: my brother in law would mix hot water, the juice of a whole lemon and a whole lime, honey, and some cayenne.
• Ginger ale
• Sprite

References

1. https://www.reddit.com/r/Cooking/comments/1mvtc1e/your_cultures_sick_food/

Last modified: 202607170613