Thinking Nutrition

‘Feed a cold, starve a fever’: fact or fiction?

June 22, 2021 Dr Tim Crowe Episode 70
Thinking Nutrition
‘Feed a cold, starve a fever’: fact or fiction?
Show Notes Transcript

You’ve probably heard the popular advice to ‘feed a cold, starve a fever’ many times over when you’ve come down with a cold or the flu. But is there any truth to this advice? That’s what I’ll explore in this podcast. 

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You’ve probably heard the popular advice to ‘feed a cold, starve a fever’ many times over when you’ve come down with a cold or the flu. But is there any truth to this advice? That’s what I’ll explore in today’s podcast.

Advice to ‘feed a cold, starve a fever’ has been with us for centuries with recorded note of it dating back to the sixteenth century. The belief is simple: with a cold, eating food may help the body generate warmth as you stoke the fire of your metabolism. While avoiding food during a fever may help it cool down when overheated. Such rationales may have been appealing to people centuries ago with our very limited understanding of human physiology, but how much truth is there to it today?

Well, spoiler alert based on today’s science: the advice should really be feed a cold, feed a fever.

Let’s look at colds first. When your body is fighting an illness, it needs energy to fuel the immune system, so eating healthy food is pretty helpful. Also, certain nutrients like vitamin C, zinc and protein are all important to help support the immune system so again, food will supply these nutrients.

Fever is a different situation as the body elevates its temperature to help kill off the invaders. Elevating body temperature is done by increasing metabolism so that means more fuel is needed for the fire, so energy needs go up. The advice of ‘starving a fever’ goes completely contrary to this.

All great in theory so far, but as you would all know, the challenge is that when you’re sick, your appetite and even taste can plummet making eating and drinking a real trial. That’s because appetite is naturally suppressed when we’re sick so that energy can be directed toward the immune system rather than digestion. This is all part of the body’s attempt to focus its resources on fighting the invading pathogens. So here, the goal isn’t to overeat or aim for your normal daily meal sizes, but to still keep some food going in and to try and eat close to normal amounts. And especially with a focus on getting in more fluids.

Why the focus on fluids and why this is indeed good advice is that fever dehydrates the body, in part through increased sweating from the elevated temperature. Fevers can also coincide with other symptoms such as vomiting or diarrhoea that result in an increased loss of body fluids, so adequate hydration is equally, if not more, important when suffering from a fever. Dehydration makes the mucus in the nose, throat, and lungs dry up, which can lead to clogged sinuses and respiratory tubes. When mucus hardens it becomes more difficult to cough, which is the body’s way of trying to expel mucus and the germs it contains.

A warming bowl of chicken soup or broth with added vegetables is close to the ideal tonic supported by science for both the mind and body. It provides fluid, electrolytes and other important nutrients. Research has also found that consuming warm liquids like soup can provide immediate and sustained relief from symptoms of runny nose, cough, sneezing, sore throat, chilliness, and tiredness.

While unpleasant, the symptoms for most people of a cold or fever caused by the flu are fairly short-term affairs, so it doesn’t make a big difference if you’re feeding or starving. What matters most is how you’re feeling throughout the illness and food here really is comfort and that will make you feel better. If your cold or fever has taken away your appetite, don’t force food down. The most important thing is to keep up your fluid intake, no matter how you’re feeling about food.

So that’s it for today’s show. You can find the show notes either in the app you’re listening to this podcast on if it supports it, or else head over to my webpage www.thinkingnutrition.com.au and click on the podcast section to find this episode to read the show notes.

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I’m Tim Crowe and you’ve been listening to Thinking Nutrition.