Is There Any Truth To The Saying 'Starve A Cold, Feed A Fever'?

Dr. Bernstein answers the question: 'Starve A Cold, Feed A Fever?'

ByABC News
September 25, 2008, 11:17 AM

— -- Question: Is there any truth to the saying "Starve a cold, feed a fever"?

Answer: That's a very common old wives' tale to say feed a cold and starve a fever. Unfortunately you really shouldn't do the extreme of either when you're treating a cold or the flu. It's very important to stay hydrated when you have upper respiratory infection or a cold, and especially the flu as well because when you sweat a lot you're going to lose a lot of moisture. So it's important to drink lots of fluids and try to eat as much as possible and keep good nutrition when you are ill.

However it's absolutely not important to starve yourself or to overeat in order to treat either of these conditions.

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