Old Wives' Tale Medicine Nutrition
BUSTED Comprehensively false

Feed a Cold, Starve a Fever

Both conditions benefit from proper nutrition

✗ The myth everyone repeats

When you have a cold, eat lots of food; when you have a fever, eat less food.

✓ What is actually true

Medical experts recommend proper nutrition for both colds and fevers. Your body needs nutrients and energy to fight off infections, regardless of which illness you have. Dehydration and malnutrition can worsen recovery. The advice is backwards, starving yourself during illness weakens your immune response.

Believed Since 1500
Year Revised 1980
Why Changed Discovery
Confidence Fully Debunked
Region Worldwide

Reception

8/10
5/10
The receipts 4 sources
  1. Feed a Cold, Starve a Fever - Mayo ClinicPRIMARY
  2. Snopes: Feed Cold Starve FeverREFERENCE
  3. Nutrition and Immune Function During InfectionPRIMARY
  4. Medical Myths About Fever ManagementREFERENCE

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