Feed a Cold/Starve a fever OR Starve a Cold/Feed a Fever? What,Huh?

Feed a cold, starve a fever? Starve a cold, feed a fever?

Don’t worry if you can’t remember whether you’re supposed to feed a cold and starve a fever or the other way around starve a cold feed a fever. neither approach will cure you, but one of them might actually help you feel better.

No one knows for sure where this old advice originally came from. but some mythbusters have traced the adage back to the Middle Ages, when people believed illnesses were caused either by low temperatures or high temperatures. Those caused by low temperatures, including the common cold, needed fuel in the form of food, so eating was the treatment of choice. To the medieval mind, fever, or any other illnesses that caused a high temperature, was fueled by food, so the recommended treatment was to eat nothing or very little to help the body cool down.

Some evidence of this line of thinking can be found in the writings of a dictionary maker who wrote in 1574, ”Fasting is a great remedy of fever.” but if it actually worked for people back then, it was probably a placebo effect.

Today, most medical experts, except for practitioners who promote fasting for healing, totally disagree with the notion of overeating or fasting to treat viral infections that cause colds and flu. when you have a cold or the flu you’re actually need more fluids than usual. Drink plenty of water, juice, soup, and tea, and eat enough food to satisfy your appetite. Hot fluids will soothe a cough, ease a sore throat, and open clogged nasal passages. Food will supply nutrients that help bolster your immune system.

So stock up on chicken soup and herbal teas and honey when the inevitable cold or fever strikes. And if a pint of mint chocolate chip ice cream helps you endure the aches and sniffles, why not indulge?

feed a cold, starve a fever, starve a cold, feed a fever,