Feed a cold, right?

By Paul Briand

Feed a cold, starve a fever. You've heard it. I've heard it.

So I should be concentrating on eating this week, given the lousy cold I have.

But preparing meals is the least of what I want to do when my head and chest are full of congestion.

There's a certain mythology to feeding a cold and starving a fever.

Certainly, you can't starve yourself completely if you're trying to fight a fever.

According to Denise Snyder, a nutrition scientist and clinical trials manager at the Duke University School of Nursing.:

...loss of appetite is your body’s natural defense mechanism for fevers, as it helps the immune system focus its energy on fighting pathogens.

“You shouldn’t overconsume, but if you’re hungry you should eat,” she says, adding that fluids can only help fight the fever.

As for “feed a cold,” it’s simply a matter of keeping your nutrient levels up while the virus runs its course.

“Colds usually last longer than fevers,” Snyder says. “You need to be consuming food so you can fight it off -- especially fruit and vegetable juices and warm broths.”

So fluids it is.

And chicken soup, of course.

I'm on the hunt for a chicken soup recipe. I'll try to report back next week on the results, if I can motivate myself beyond the coughing and sneezing.