feed a fever, starve a cold

[Guest guest]

Hi Bon and everybody else

 

there is much confusion about what exactly it means to "feed a fever,

starve a cold" or is it starve a fever and feed a cold

 

the only way the axiom makes any sense is to understand what one means

by feeding and starving

 

fever is an important non-specific mechanism in immunity and rarely

should be stopped completely

 

in Ayurvedic terms fever is agni rising upwards and outwards through

the body as pitta to "eat" or "digest" the kapha/ama that is blocking

the channels (srotas)

 

a failure of agni to do this results can result in chronic fever, as

the obstruction (i.e. ama/kapha) remains

 

these days, most people get recurrent fever b/c something was used to

shut it down, e.g. acetaminophen

unfortunately this allows the imbalance that caused the fever to

remain, causing chronic fever, chronic URIs, or another secondary

condition

 

in all systems of natural medicine fevers are a good thing (within in

reason), and unless they are very high (>104 F, 40 C), should not be

stopped

 

kids need to be watched closely b/c their temperatures are often quite

labile

 

thus when the fever is just beginning, or is poorly manifested,

generally speaking we want to FEED it, for e.g, by drinking warm

fluids, resting under the bed covers, eating warm rice soup with ginger

etc., so that the patient can achieve the crisis, i.e. sweating, and

the resolution of the condition

 

when sweating occurs, pitta has completely digested the ama/kapha in

the srotas, and maintains itself continuously from the digestive tract

to the periphery - it is victorious, it has kicked butt on the

ama/kapha and pushed it out of the body (i.e. as sweat)

 

when we encourage this process, this is what we mean by "feeding a

fever"

 

 

colds are caused by the same pathogenic factors as fevers, but are

either not strong enough to cause agni to move into the srotas to eat

the ama/kapha, or occurs when agni is weak and can't over come the

obstruction in the digestive tract

 

thus "starving" a cold is recommended, or more specifically, starving

ama by limiting foods that promote it, i.e. heavy, cold, slimy and

sticky foods, e.g. dairy, flour, oils, sweets etc.; this is what is

meant by "starving a cold"

 

thus, to sum it up:

 

****feed a fever means promote the crisis (sweating), which leads to

resolution

****starve a cold means to inhibit the production of ama

 

of course in a fever, we similarly don't want to promote the production

of ama, so ama-forming foods are prohibited in either case

 

from this explanation we can see that the axiom doesn't literally mean

to starve or feed at all, but relates to understanding the pathogenic

processes of fevers and colds, and the causal factors behind them

 

there, from now on there should be no more confusion about feeding a

fever or starving a cold

:-)

 

best to all...

Caldecott

phyto

http://www.wrc.net/phyto

[Guest guest]

> thus, to sum it up:

>

> ****feed a fever means promote the crisis (sweating), which leads

to

> resolution

> ****starve a cold means to inhibit the production of ama

>

 

 

Dr

 

In his book Ayurvedic Remedies, Dr Vasant Lad mentions this so called

axiom but he does not take it allegorically as you do, but very

literally. Of course even in "feeding a fever" one is on a restricted

diet.

 

-yogaman