The comments below reflect the personal experiences and opinions of readers and do not represent medical advice or the views of this website. The information shared has not been evaluated by the FDA and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease or health condition. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional for medical concerns.
Ice Cream and Sinus Infections Reader Feedback
Posted by Mike (NY) on 12/01/2005
The answer is simple.. EVERYONE is allergic in some degree to dairy products. They are natural mucoids. Most people do not even realize they are allergic to dairy, but everyone is. If you cut out dairy products (all) for two weeks you will see an increase in the ability to breath, less spitting and such if you work out and even an increase in stamina... without doing any work. Add this to an allergy, cold season, and take someone who may not have the best health practices (most of us Americans:) ) and you have a recipe for sinusitis. Dairy is horrible... I urge you all to research how diary products seriously hinder the body's functionality and indeed the human potential in all of us.
Ice Cream and Sinus Infections Reader Feedback
Posted by Cherie (Jacksonville) on 07/13/2005
Sinus infections can begin with all dairy, not just ice cream, included are cheese, milk, and yogurt to name a few. I've had instances of all.
Ice Cream and Sinus Infections Reader Feedback
Posted by Larry (Grand Junction, Colorado) on 11/05/2005
It's the sugar!! Sorry, but the junk food has got to go! These highly processed foods contain bad oils, empty calories, and chemicals. Worse, they lack the nutrition we need to maintain our health. Eliminating the use of refined white sugar and flour altogether is highly important. Fighting colds a lot? Consider that eating or drinking 100 grams (8 tsp.) of sugar, the equivalent of one 12-ounce can of soda, can reduce the ability of white blood cells to kill germs by forty percent. The immune-suppressing effect of sugar starts less than thirty minutes after ingestion and may last for five hours. In contrast, the ingestion of complex carbohydrates, or starches, which are low glycemic, has no effect on the immune system.
Ice Cream and Sinus Infections Reader Feedback
Posted by Debra (IA) on 05/31/2006
I do not think it is the ice cream or dairy products that are causing the infection or more likely inflammation. There is a link though. The calcium in dairy products is probably triggering the release of gastrin that results in increased stomach acid. Gastric reflux of this acid can cause both sinusitis and asthma like symptoms. I would say this is GERD causing your problems.
Ice Cream and Sinus Infections Reader Feedback
Posted by David (Terry, Mississippi) on 08/29/2006
There is a definite link between milk and sinus/throat infection. For years I have been pestered with 'quinsy' or infection, swelling, nausea, congestion of back of the sinuses, which spreads up and down and sometimes into chest. Anyway, twice a year (in sync with the AC/heat turning on and drying out the air) I would wake up with my nose passages bone dry right to the back of my skull. Then the mucus built up in the back up of my nose and things swelled up, got nauseous, and generally nasty. After my last case I realized that it had come directly after a warm milk craze in which I would drink a big cup of warm milk with honey every night for several days. This was no ordinary milk either, this was all natural organic milk (but pasteurized). I gave up milk and no problems since. Pasteurized milk links directly to your sinuses.
Ice Cream and Sinus Infections Reader Feedback
Posted by Marian (Central Lk) on 09/10/2006
Concerning sinus infections and their relationship to ice cream, I would like to comment on the pasteurization of milk and its products there of. The pasteurization of milk kills the enzymes that enables the body to process and assimilates its benefits. When products of pasteurized milk are consumed, it basically sits rotting in the small intestine, which resides in the same meridian as the sinuses, thus, causing inflammation and quite often sinus infection. Raw milk products from cows raised in mineral rich pastures, fed only grasses and no grain, produce a milk highly beneficial and easily assimilated by our human bodies. It is loaded with fat soluble vitamins, A , D, and E, minerals and enzymes. So don't knock out ice cream all together, it can still be enjoyed by making your own with fresh raw milk.
Ice Cream and Sinus Infections Reader Feedback
Posted by Lynda (Dunan, BC Canada)
I want to comment on the " ice cream causes sinus infection" statements. I have not had any dairy of any kind in over 20 years. No white sugar, no soda pops or any junk food for 20 years. I have, most of the time, sinus infections.Yes, dairy does cause sinus infections- I know it always did for the first 20 years of my life. But something else is causing it in me now and it is not food.
Ice Cream and Sinus Infections Reader Feedback
Posted by Tara (Venice, CA) on 01/23/2007
As much as I don't believe in eating foods that are processed with additives and preservatives I don't really think it's what is causing peoples reactions to eating ice cream. If you ask any Chinese medicine practitioner they will tell you that ice cream is very cold in nature and dairy is considered damp in nature. When you put the two together it's causing a cold/damp condition in the body. An acupuncturist could probably explain this much better but I've know n for years that when I eat ice cream I'm taking a huge risk that I might get sick the next day.
Ice Cream and Sinus Infections Reader Feedback
Posted by Jon (Miami, FL) on 03/11/2007
It all started with a runny nose and led into a horrible sinus infection, which i then gave to my girlfriend while i still harbor the cold. My ears have felt like i have been on an airplane in flight for the past 5 days. No matter how much mucous with blood i cough up or blow in a tissue it doesn't make a difference. i did not have ice cream or anything of the sort. It is called a virus for a reason. I think car keys caused the infection. That is how silly the theory sounds! Let's take something us humans have a soft spot for and start blaming as the source of the colds. The source is the wicked winter lowering our immune systems, coupled with stress and whatever other b.s. we deal with on a daily basis.
EC: Sorry, Jon. We stand by what we say. We're not saying that ice cream is the only cause of sinus infections, but a very likely one for some people. We agree that viruses are also a very common cause of sinus infections, but how many of those sinus conditions were exacerbated by poor diet and cold/sinus medications?
Ice Cream and Sinus Infections Reader Feedback
Posted by Snuffy Smith (Hillbilly Heaven, Apalacee) on 05/02/2007
I haven't been to a Baskin Robbins for about 15 years. I'm moderate in my dairy consumption. I'm strict about eating only foods that I recognize as being plant or animal matter (with the exception of salt). I buy organic whenever possible. I still get sinus infections all the time. I am IgG deficient, which means my body does not produce enough of the substances it needs to fight off bacteria. When I'm ill with a VIRUS, the bacteria take advantage of the situation and party hardy. Baskin Robbins has nothing to do with my illnesses.
Ice Cream and Sinus Infections Reader Feedback
Posted by Jerry (Indianapolis, IN) on 05/12/2007
I get sinus infects no matter what and the seem to get worse when I do drink milk.. if what you say is true then why does this happen?
EC: Milk tends to exacerbate any sinus condition. What we are addressing on this page specifically is the body's 24 hour intense, negative reaction to certain brands of artificially flavored ice cream.
Ice Cream and Sinus Infections Reader Feedback
Posted by Susie (Boston, MA) on 06/11/2007
Most people had probably eaten bread and had water to drink in the past few days. Association does not imply causation.
