Does that mean you should force yourself to eat big meals when you're sick? Again, the answer is no. There's no need to eat more or less than usual, according to Harvard Health Publishing, but what you do eat should be rich in essential vitamins and minerals such as vitamin C and zinc.
Losing an appetite is a common sickness behavior, and not eating until hunger pangs hit (even if they are infrequent) is not a bad thing for adults. When sickness symptoms include nausea, vomiting or diarrhea, it doesn't make sense to continually force our bodies to ingest unwanted food, she said.
It's not important to force feed yourself in order to keep up with the cold. However, it is important to stay hydrated. What I'd recommend is actually drinking as many liquids as possible.
It's common to feel this way, and your symptoms can drive down your appetite. Congestion can also accompany the flu and this can limit your sense of smell, which is linked to your taste buds, so a decrease in appetite may also be caused by your inability to taste foods.
When you are seriously ill, your body may not be able to use food to build itself up. Because the body recognises that it can no longer use as much food as before, your appetite becomes smaller. You may find that the amount you eat or drink changes from day to day.
Be Supportive, Not Pushy
While people struggling with a serious illness may want to eat, symptoms such as the lack of appetite, gastrointestinal symptoms, and mouth sores may stand in their way of doing so. Pushing them to eat only adds to the frustration they're already dealing with.
The saying “Feed a Cold, Starve a Fever” is just that – a myth. The truth is that when you're sick, your body needs adequate nutrition and hydration to fight off the illness, no matter whether you have a cold or a fever.
“'Feed a cold, starve a fever' has been debunked,” says Rebecca Schilling, RDN, a dietitian with Dietitians Delivered. “The most current science suggests that during acute illness, such as cold or fever, nutrient needs increase. Eating and drinking is recommended over fasting.”
As a result of discontinuing eating, patients can die in as early as a few days. For most people, this period without food usually lasts about 10 days, but in rare instances, it can last several weeks.
Fever is part of the immune system's attempt to beat the bugs. It raises body temperature, which increases metabolism and results in more calories burned; for each degree of temperature rise, the energy demand increases further. So taking in calories becomes important. Even more crucial is drinking.
Dehydration - Being dehydrated means more than simply being thirsty. The need for water and fluids can lead to headaches, nausea, tiredness, confusion, and a lack of appetite, but while still feeling hungry. Some people may notice these symptoms more often during the summer months.
You may have heard of the BRAT diet which stands for Bananas, Rice, Apples, and Toast. The BRAT diet was often recommended for nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, but is no longer because of how restrictive it is.
Illness remained a valid reason for not fasting, though not any illness or pain legitimately excuses one from fasting. If one fears that fasting will worsen the sickness, delay its cure, or cause damage to anything in the body, then one has a valid excuse for breaking the fast.
Deciding whether to fast
The Qur'an says that some people don't have to fast. This includes people with a terminal illness, and older people who are frail or ill.
The stages of a cold include the incubation period, appearance of symptoms, remission, and recovery. The common cold is a mild upper respiratory infection caused by viruses.
Many people who have been ill with COVID have lost their appetite. This might be because you have been very unwell or because you have lost your sense of smell or taste and food isn't so enjoyable. Sometimes weight loss occurs gradually, making it difficult to notice at the start.
Offer food every 1-2 hours; give snacks between meals. Encourage the person to eat more at each meal. Give easy-to-eat foods that the person likes, but include energy-rich and nutrient-rich foods in the meals.
An old, frail or ill person who stops taking in calories and fluids may only linger for a few days, gradually falling deeper and deeper into sleep. A person whose body is stronger may take two or even three weeks to deteriorate to the point of coma.
In general, it is likely that a person could survive between 1 and 2 months without food. As many different factors influence the length of time that the body can last without food, this period will vary among individuals.
Choosing smaller, nutrient-packed meals or snacks — like smoothies, soups, or yogurt with fruit and granola — can make sure you're still getting in important nutrients for your body to work properly until you regain your appetite.
A loss of appetite is a symptom that can have many causes. This occurs when you don't feel hungry. The medical term for a loss of appetite is anorexia.
However, battling a serious illness or injury can result in rapid weight loss—a significant portion of which may come from the loss of muscle tissue rather than body fat.