I’ve always wondered which way round the saying should go and have never really had a reliable answer from anyone I’ve asked.

So, with a little nifty Googling, the bods over at New Scientist have helped answer this for me. It’s particularly pertinent being as I’ve been struck down with man flu for the best part of the last month!

The maxim “feed a cold, starve a fever” may be right after all, researchers have discovered.

Until now, most doctors and nutritionists have rejected the idea as a myth. But Dutch scientists have found that eating a meal boosts the type of immune response that destroys the viruses responsible for colds, while fasting stimulates the response that tackles the bacterial infections responsible for most fevers.

Source and the rest of the article: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn1777-feed-a-cold-starve-a-fever-may-be-right.html