My mother came from Ukraine for a visit for the first time and she was shocked to see that my American husband was giving our little children ( one of them had a  cold) juce with ice. In Ukraine it is a common belief ( my husband calls is a supestition) that cold drinks or ice cream can cause a cold or sore throat, here it is not. After living here for two and a half years I started diregarsding this belief but my mom's visit turned me back in time.I was just wondering what people on this forum think about this "supersition"... So, would you give your child/sick child a drink with ice or would you warm it in a microvawe before serving ?

 

 

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My understanding is this all superstition. In Russia and Ukraine cold and flue are caused by cold weather and "skvoznyak". Here flue and cold caused by viruses and bacteria. Sore throat is inflammation caused by body reaction on bacteria. Drinking cold juice or eating ice cream helps relieve some soreness. Cold drink does not fight or help bacteria. As saying goes if you fight cold it takes seven days to recover. If you don't it takes one week. Fighting superstition is much more complicated...

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I don't give my child cold drinks....thou maybe sometimes when we're not at home, but at home I always give room T whater(that's the only thing she drinks most of the times), sometimes smoothies, but those have to be refrigerated.  And  even then  she  goes  through colds,  fevers, ear infections, sinus infections.....so go figure....I do think it's superstition nothing more

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Ne dau. Prakticheski nikogda, dazhe kogda ne boleet. Soki vse razbavlau kipatkom do komnatnoy T ili chtobi nemnogo bili tepliye. Kogda sama boleu i bolit gorlo ot xolodnogo stanovitsya bolnee i nepriyatnee, zachem muchat rebenka? Eto po-moemu sovershenno estestvenno i logichno..... imho

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Hot drinks (hot coffee, hot tea) killed the cold/flu virus.  Unsanitary conditions (people with colds/flu sharing same unsanitized cups) meant that cold drinks still allowed cold/flu to be passed from person to person.  Use the dishwasher (hot water cycle) and you can safely resume drinking cold drinks here in the USA.

One thing you do have to worry about here in USA.  NEVER whistle in the house, especially the kitchen.  It will make all your money fly away from you.  You will lose money fast if you start whistling in house.  Don't do it!

 

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"Hearts will never be practical until they can be made unbreakable."

James Bond:

One thing you do have to worry about here in USA.  NEVER whistle in the house, especially the kitchen.  It will make all your money fly away from you.  You will lose money fast if you start whistling in house.  Don't do it!

I always thought this is Russian superstition. Interesting...

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I think it is international superstition... We do not whistle in our house at all, the only whistling object is a tea kettle in the kitchen, when it is boiling... But that does not influence our money situation.

 Talking about superstions, it may take separate topic, I'm sure Russians can recall thousands of them. The ones I can remeber are giving or receiving even number of flowers ( under 10) or celebrating birthday before the actual calerdar birthday. These are odd for Americans.

I remember when I used  to work in Ukraine with Peace Corps volunteers, we, Ukrainian staff used to laugh at Americans for their way of doing things, like drinking iced coke, going out in winter ( in Ukraine)  with wet hair, walking barefoot in November and sitting on the floor on "skvosniak". But here, things a quite opposite...

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Да многие вещи по приезду в Америку мы( я и моя семья) не понимали ,а сейчас так как надо,хотя все равно стараюсь не довать детям холодную воду

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-SU-
если вас кинули - самое время расправить крылья

Actually, whistling is not a superstition here in the US.  That's one I heard from a Russian.  Here in the US, the superstition is that financial mismanagement will make all your money fly out the window.  I can attest to this superstition being true!

 

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"Hearts will never be practical until they can be made unbreakable."

I believe in "throat training" :). The more cold you drink the stronger it is.

My kid is drinking ice water. When I go home my mom gives her T-room staff she doesn't  drink it anymore. Everything comes from the fridge.

I guess we are all different. My mom can touch ice-cream and get a cold. I was never this way. 

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Confirmation bias.  Placebo Effect.  Whatever.  If we believe it to be so, we make it so.

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Sweater, n.: garment worn by child when her mother is feeling chilly. ~Ambrose Bierce

So if you tell your kid "you'll get a cold" they get a cold? :)

I know you are discussing children, but this applies to adults too.  I've heard so many times that its a myth, I've heard so many times that it isnt.  I don't know what to believe, but all my colds/flus/variation of the two, without exception have followed freezing my ass off somehow, or i should say my throat.  I sometimes get a sore throat in the morning if it was too cold in the room where i sleep.

It is obviously a combination of both, yes it is viruses/bacteria, but the cold clearly does something bad to the immune system.  Even in the US, look at the cold/flu "seasons".  They come in each region, approximately when it suddenly gets cold every year.

As far as cold drinks, i think it is much harder to say.  You are reducing blood flow (white blood cells = the immune system) to the mucous membranes, but is such a short time significant?  Again, the answer would have to be a mix of lots of other factors.. No one will ever be convinced of anything

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"Я это понимаю на рациональном уровне, но не могу принять на эмоциональном" --Бизнесмен Борис Березовский

Kids are more influenced by belief than adults.  Example - they believe in the magic power of a "kiss" to heal their "boo-boo." 

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Sweater, n.: garment worn by child when her mother is feeling chilly. ~Ambrose Bierce

Bagel Roll:

Example - they believe in the magic power of a "kiss" to heal their "boo-boo." 

Uhm, excuse me?  Are you claiming this does not work?

Leah :)

 

Of course, it's the end result that matters! 

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Sweater, n.: garment worn by child when her mother is feeling chilly. ~Ambrose Bierce