Should I Force Myself to Eat if I Have a Fever?
                                
                                
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                                    4 min read                                
                            
                                According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, the old adage "feed a cold, starve a fever" is mostly false, and forcing yourself to eat when you have a fever can actually hinder your recovery. A fever, a natural immune response to infection, often suppresses appetite to allow the body to conserve energy for fighting off the illness.