Fever foods: what to eat if you have fever and what not to

Long goes the companionship of fever and warm fluids, only for the good. Soups are healthy and nutritious, as you may agree, but what exactly do they do to lower body temperature? Well, they do a lot. For the starters, soup, particularly chicken soup has been evidenced to have medicinal properties.

Studies have confirmed its anti-inflammatory properties, which means that it has the potential to reduce inflammation and heat in your body. A beneficial effect of chicken soup has also been recognised in the management of upper respiratory tract infections.

So, if you have a fever which presents with symptoms like a sore throat, cough or an irritation in the throat, having a bowl of hot soup will not only help in lowering body temperature but also ease your symptoms. What’s better? Yeah, there is more.

Soups are considered to be a whole food in themselves, providing you with a rich blend of all the essential nutrients including proteins, vitamins, minerals and calcium in a single bowl. While you run a fever, it is important to maintain a healthy and rich diet but it is most likely that your lack of appetite won’t allow that. In that case, soups can be your best friend providing you with a blend of nutrients without loading up. Further, soups can be a way of introducing other foods to your diet making the first meal. Since they are light and easy to digest, they would not pull off all your body’s energy stores in the process of digestion.

What’s more is that they help in hydrating and nourishing your body, which is very important during a fever (you’ll know ahead). With these uncountable perks, it is suggested you get your bowls ready. And don’t worry if you are a vegetarian or a vegan, while chicken soup is considered to be the best, including another source of protein in your veg soup, like cottage cheese or tofu, can also be helpful. It is the warmth and nutrition that counts.

Fever is your body's response to fight against the disease-causing pathogen. This implies that fever is rather a helpful body mechanism than being a complete wrath. While your body is working hard to fight off those pathogens, how about the addition of foods to your diet that cater to improve your immunity and help your body win the fight? Yes, vitamin C is being hinted at, which is the best food to boost immunity.

Including a plethora of fresh fruits and vegetables like lemon, sweet lemon, potatoes, kiwi and spinach will provide you with a sufficient amount of vitamin C required for the win. You can take these in any form. Make a fruit salad, blend to form a smoothie, or mix together in a juice, all serve the purpose.

Additionally, the inclusion of vitamin C rich fruits in your diet like orange and kiwi will help to improve your palatability and enhance your taste, which is likely affected when running a fever. So, devour a bowl of freshness to bring down fever early.

Fresh fruits and vegetables are a host of several vitamins, minerals and nutrients that are required by your body in a state of fever. They not only help in providing your body with the required nutrients and energy but also helps in lowering down fever by improving your immunity. Recognising these benefits of fresh fruits and vegetables for your health, it is recommended to include at least 2 fruits and 5 vegetables in your daily diet.

Frequently drinking fluids has a cooling effect on your body and helps in bringing down your body temperature. When you are down with fever, it is all the more essential to be mindful of your fluid intake and what better than water. It is recommended to drink at least 8 to 10 glasses of water in a day to facilitate a reduction in body temperature.

Various studies have concluded that fluid supplementation has a highly beneficial role in keeping down the body temperature. The possible mechanism for this is that it helps to prevent dehydration and helps rehydrate the body tissues, which tend to get dehydrated due to high body temperatures. Further, drinking water also helps to ease the symptoms of fever like a sore throat or cold.

If you are unable to keep up with your daily water intake, it is a great idea to include herbal teas in your routine. Along with hydrating you, they will help in bringing down fever. Some varieties of tea have been specifically appreciated for their antipyretic effects, especially green tea, which has been recognised to reduce the incidence of fever and illnesses by 3 times.

Several herbs are known for their anti-pyretic, that is, fever lowering effects. Consuming them in the right concentration helps to lower body temperature. Other than a variety of Chinese herbal formulations, easily available domestic herbs like amla and banafsa or English violet, have also been recognised for their antipyretic effects.

Other than this, there are certain herbs which have an anti-inflammatory effect, which describes another possible mechanism in which they can reduce fever. The most commonly available of these herbs is garlic, which adorns the Indian kitchens. You can include this herb within your soups and dishes to derive benefits. Amla can be eaten raw, which is also a rich source of vitamin C. For the correct dosages of these herbs, it is advisable to consult with your Ayurvedic doctor.

Fever is marked by suppression of appetite and a person suffering from fever often eats a lot fewer than the stipulated number of calories per day. However, this should not be the case. Studies have suggested that sufficient calorie intake favours cell-mediated immunity. This is why it is important that you eat enough during a fever so that your body has enough energy to fight off the infection. Thus, make sure that you do not consume any lesser than 2,000 calories a day.

While you are having a fever, it is important that you eat food that has been cooked and heated properly and is served by utmost hygiene standards. Which is why it is best to have home-cooked light meals, which are also easy to digest. It is not recommended to eat anything straight out of the refrigerator and when consuming stored food, you must take care to reheat carefully. Moreover, it is important to store your food carefully and refrigerate it within 2 hours of cooking.