Feed a cold, starve a fever is an adage of folk medicine offering conflicting dietary advice for illness, traditionally traced to Hippocrates, who is credited with the idea that withholding food could help starve out a fever. Modern medicine does not support the advice, recommending rest, hydration and adequate nutrition to support immune function during any infection instead. A small 2002 Dutch study found a partial correlation, that eating tracked with immune responses suited to viral infections such as colds while fasting tracked with immune responses suited to bacterial infections such as many fevers, though the finding is limited and has not been replicated, and most medical authorities continue to reject starving a fever.
Facts
Classification
StatusDiscontinued or Obsolete 1 FAQs
Has any study tested whether eating or fasting changes the body's immune response?
A 2002 study of six healthy men found that eating raised gamma interferon and fasting raised interleukin-4, but it did not test people who were ill.
A small 2002 study of six healthy male volunteers measured immune signals in blood samples taken after eating and after fasting. Food intake resulted in increased levels of gamma interferon production, whereas food deprivation stimulated interleukin-4 release. The researchers were looking at the balance of two kinds of T helper cell response, so the work shows that nutrition shifts immune signaling in the blood. It did not test people who had a cold or a fever, and the group was too small to settle the old saying.
Sources
1. Wikipedia
Wikipedia contributors, Wikimedia Foundation
2. Feed a cold, starve a fever (Wikipedia)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feed_a_cold%2C_starve_a_fever, lead section
"Feed a cold, starve a fever" is an adage or a wives' tale which attempts to instruct people how to deal with illness.
Section: Background (origin-year)
The first known publication of the adage was in John Withals' 1574 book, A shorte dictionarie most profitable for yong beginners.
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