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"Feeding" Colds And "Starving" Fevers

  • Thread starter Thread starter asparagusp
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asparagusp

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I have a sore throat and slightly elevated blood sugar today. The old addage comes to mind! - "Feeding" colds and "starving" fevers which seems to contradict the diabetes philosophy of eating less! ..... lol
 
Just eat small sensible portions....it's just an old wives tale...steady and sensible always wins the day
 
asparagusp said:
I have a sore throat and slightly elevated blood sugar today. The old addage comes to mind! - "Feeding" colds and "starving" fevers which seems to contradict the diabetes philosophy of eating less! ..... lol
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I increase my multivitamins. It seems to work. :)
 
So basically don't change and don't eat more! zzz lol Duck tonight so chicken broth a bit too much., Maybe tomorrow. Cheers!
 
I increase my supplements, but I'm afraid I do eat more with a cold. If I am hungry then I eat and sort it out when I am well again. I'm not suggesting this is what you should do, but it works for me.
 
zand said:
I increase my supplements, but I'm afraid I do eat more with a cold. If I am hungry then I eat and sort it out when I am well again. I'm not suggesting this is what you should do, but it works for me.
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Love it!
 
I just try and listen to my body so I eat to my appetite, while staying low carb.
I do up my Vit C, Zinc, and usually take Black Elderflower, plus echinacea tea, if I have any in the house.
 
asparagusp said:
Thanks Brunneria,. I never hear of Black Elderflower and shall see if Wholefoods have it when I'm there later this afternoon.
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Have a look for the brand name Sambucol. Even Boots sell it, I think. Lots of different variations, sugared, sugar free, effervescent tablets, plus or minus extra vits... I usually get the efferevescent ones, cos they are sugar free, and then have them with hot or cold water, depending on my mood. I am sure there are other brands out there, probably just as good, it is just that I know the name Sambucol, and it has had some trials done on it, so it has a reasonable reputation. There must be a website somewhere...
 
I had the mother of all 'sore throats', back in May 2016, was I ill !! I couldn't eat, had to call paramedics out because I couldn't breath during one night and I have never had anything like that before and with very high BS.
I hope you are feeling a little better now.
 
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Robinredbreast said:
I had the other of all 'sore throats', back in May 2016, was I ill !! I couldn't eat, had to call paramedics out because I couldn't breath during one night and I have never had anything like that before and with very high BS.
I hope you are feeling a little better now.
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Thank you. It's only a slight sore throat which has been coming and going for the last couple of days. I tend to cough a lot anyway so even the cough is in the normal run of things! lol I really am just looking for an excuse to indulge by eating more! lol
 
Resurgam said:
It is not advice, it is a warning, if you starve a fever you will feed a cold - that is by not providing nourishment when treating a fever you will weaken the patient and make it more likely that they will catch a nasty cold.
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Haha! I am not laughing at you - i am laughing at how ridiculous this whole maxim is!

The various older members of my family (back to my great grandparents around the turn of the 1900s) have always maintained that if you feed a cold, you will end up having to starve a fever.

I have therefore always thought the phrase is nonsensically ambiguous.
So I looked it up
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fact-or-fiction-feed-a-cold/
Maxims typically date back many years, but “feed a cold, starve a fever” may beat them all. This saying has been traced to a 1574 dictionary by John Withals, which noted that “fasting is a great remedy of fever.” The belief is that eating food may help the body generate warmth during a “cold” and that avoiding food may help it cool down when overheated.
 
If I feel a bit 'off' or suspect that I'm in for a cold, I fast, I can't or won't eat, just drink tea!
I'm better off not eating as if my blood glucose levels go higher, if by eating it could ease me out of ketosis.

It just makes it logical for me not to!
 
I just do what my body wants me to do. I am normally really hungry with a cold, so I 'feed' it. I don't feel like eating at all with a fever, so I just sip water. I have always thought of this maxim as simply a statement of what most people will feel the urge to do, not as an instruction or a warning. Similarly we are often told not to eat with an upset tummy. When I feel like eating again, I do so, even if it's only a few hours after being ill.
 
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