Why do you starve a fever

Fuel your body with fluids and nutrient-dense whole foods as much as you comfortably can. Start with soft, easily digestible foods, then progress to heartier meals. And above all, listen to your body. Chances are it knows better than medical folklore does. To get our top stories delivered to your inbox, sign up for the Healthy Living newsletter. Fever — When to Call the Doctor. Natural Cold and Flu Remedies. Piedmont Healthcare. Cold Remedies. Mayo Clinic. Find relief and ease your symptoms with Theraflu.

Boost your immune system with nutrient-packed foods and drinks. Learn which foods can help you fight off a cold or the flu with this guide from Theraflu.

Find out how to get rid of a cold fast with these tips from Theraflu. Learn what you can do at home to quickly relieve your runny nose, congestion, and cough. This site is intended for US residents only. All rights reserved. OK Cancel. Bosnia and Herzegovina. Czech Republic. When your body fights an illness it needs energy, so eating healthy food is helpful.

Eating can also help the body generate heat—although wearing an extra layer of clothes or slipping into bed can keep you warm, too. The reasons to eat for fever are more interesting. It raises body temperature, which increases metabolism and results in more calories burned; for each degree of temperature rise, the energy demand increases further. So taking in calories becomes important. Even more crucial is drinking. Fever dehydrates your system, in part through increased sweating from that elevated temperature.

Replacing fluids is therefore critical to helping the body battle the infection. The same is true for combating colds. Dehydration also makes mucus in the nose, throat and lungs dry up, which can then clog sinuses and respiratory tubes.

Dutch scientists asked volunteers to fast overnight before visiting their laboratory for tests on two separate occasions. On the first visit, they were given a liquid meal and on the second they received only water. Meanwhile, fasting appeared to increase levels of another immune system signalling chemical called interleukin-4 on average fourfold — much more than the smaller increase seen in the study participants after they were given the liquid meal. So continuing to eat promotes the type of immunity that is particularly effective in combating the type of virus-based infection of cells you would have with a cold.

And a fever might be caused by infectious bacteria, in which case starving yourself could promote the other type of immunity. Moreover this study was tiny, with just six volunteers taking part. Even lead study author Gijis van den Brink warned people not to change their eating habits in response to illness on the basis of the study.