# Avoiding dairy while having a fever. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 17, 2003, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-dairy-while-having-a-fever/219431 "2003-12-17T00:46:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![domesticatedjunglefowl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b38774/32.png) [@domesticatedjunglefowl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/domesticatedjunglefowl)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-dairy-while-having-a-fever/219431/1 "2003-12-17T00:46:30Z")
In my family, it is gospel to not eat dairy of any sort while having a fever. The reason given to me as a child was because dairy curdles in the stomach and can make you vomit at the least or at worst make you sicker. Is this based on medical fact or is this ‘’ Folk Wisdom?’’ ---
**Author:** ![Chairman\_Pow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Chairman\_Pow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chairman_Pow)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-dairy-while-having-a-fever/219431/2 "2003-12-17T01:27:07Z")
Well, certianly having something as dense as dairy in your stomach whilst sick will make you feel worse. Traditionally (all right, in the wacky world of herbalists and natural healers), having anything in your stomach while one is sick is a bad idea, the idea being that when your stomach is trying to digest anything, it takes a significant amount of energy that would be better used to fight off illness. As far as foods go, dairy is pretty dense, which means it will take more energy to burn that other, “lighter” foods, but given the propensity of people to eat ice cream while sick, it won’t necessarily make you vomit or sicker. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-dairy-while-having-a-fever/219431/3 "2003-12-17T01:37:06Z")
The body’s got plenty of energy to handle both digestion and fighting off illness. Don’t stop eating or drinking _just_ because you’re sick. And dairy is no more dense than an equal weight of any other fat/protein/carb mix food. But some illnesses delay gastric emptying. And if the stomach is full of stuff that sits there like lead, or curdles, you’re going to be uncomfortable when it tries to come back up. And vomiting up curdled milk is nasty, and may trigger further vomiting. So stick with clear liquids and neutral foods (such as toast, crackers, etc) until you have a better ideas as to whether the stomach is gonna throughput the input. And if you have diarrhea, avoid dairy, as often you lose the intestinal lining where key dairy digestion is done. More dairy passing thru the intestines at this point only causes more diarrhea. So there’s a nugget of truth about dairy and illness, but it can’t be applied to all illnesses. BTW, there is no evidence that dairy products “thicken” mucous!!! QtM, MD ---
**Author:** ![Trigonal\_Planar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/0ea827/32.png) [@Trigonal\_Planar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trigonal_Planar)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-dairy-while-having-a-fever/219431/4 "2003-12-17T02:53:12Z")
I’ve never heard of avoiding dairy while having a fever. However, I was always told not to consume dairy products as they are mucous-forming. But I’ve heard that this is not true. It sure _feels_ like it could increase mucous formation though, if consumed when congested. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-dairy-while-having-a-fever/219431/5 "2003-12-17T04:35:19Z")
Perhaps you heard this wasn’t true **by reading the previous post!** :smack: You’re also hearing it from me, someone who has done research in this field for 20 years. As for dairy being “denser” than other foods, that sounds like null content to me. No matter what meaning I put on the word “denser” I can’t think of any way to make it true. ---
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-dairy-while-having-a-fever/219431/6 "2003-12-17T04:46:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Qadgop the Mercotan \* > **BTW, there is no evidence that dairy products “thicken” mucous!!!** Thank-you! Everytime I try to debunk this, I get ‘singers’ and old housewives swearing on a stack of bibles that the milk entering their stomach somehow manages to make a beeline for their mucous membranes. :rolleyes: ## Peace. Well, if you stop _garggling_ with milk… ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-dairy-while-having-a-fever/219431/7 "2003-12-17T11:01:49Z")
I don’t know about where you live, but here in the Chicago area the “don’t eat dairy while sick” and “dairy promotes mucus” seems to have the largest following among the black community. I wonder if some of this is related to adult lactose intolerance, which is more common among blacks than whites? ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-dairy-while-having-a-fever/219431/8 "2003-12-17T13:40:14Z")
I made the mistake of giving Lilly, Queen of the Universe, milk while she had a fever just once. Projectile vomiting of soured milk in a car with cloth seats does not make for a fun evening on an interstate highway in the pouring rain. ---
**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-dairy-while-having-a-fever/219431/9 "2003-12-17T13:52:45Z")
Another time to avoid dairy is when you’re taking certain antibiotics. Read those labels! Of course, if your fever is cause by a virus, you shouldn’t be taking antibiotics, anyway, since they won’t do any good. ---
**Author:** ![beajerry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@beajerry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beajerry)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-dairy-while-having-a-fever/219431/10 "2003-12-17T16:33:58Z")
Perhaps milk isn’t making mucus thicker by the digested route but rather helps bacteria in the mucus culture a little more thus becoming thicker or making a sore throat worse a more superficial route? What say ye? Yay or nay? ---
**Author:** ![beajerry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@beajerry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beajerry)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-dairy-while-having-a-fever/219431/11 "2003-12-17T16:35:22Z")
Ok that makes no sense. Nevermind. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-dairy-while-having-a-fever/219431/12 "2003-12-17T16:53:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Broomstick \* > \*\*I don’t know about where you live, but here in the Chicago area the “don’t eat dairy while sick” and “dairy promotes mucus” seems to have the largest following among the black community. I wonder if some of this is related to adult lactose intolerance, which is more common among blacks than whites? \*\* Lactose intolerance creates intestinal symptoms only. There is not the slightest shred of evidence that it thickens, creates, or promotes mucous. ---
**Author:** ![sweetfreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@sweetfreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweetfreak)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-dairy-while-having-a-fever/219431/13 "2003-12-17T19:00:35Z")
I was a gluttonous consumer of dairy products until about 5 years ago when I developed lactose intolerance. I also used to wake up every morning with a thick cough that was full of mucus. Ever since I have been off dairy, my sinuses have been clear in the morning. So, in my case, dairy products did cause thickening of mucus. ---
**Author:** ![robcaro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@robcaro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robcaro)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-dairy-while-having-a-fever/219431/14 "2003-12-17T20:30:50Z")
My Mother always said: > [@](#): > > **Feed a cold, starve a fever** And, she was usually right. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2003, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avoiding-dairy-while-having-a-fever/219431/15 "2003-12-18T01:46:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Exapno Mapcase \* > Lactose intolerance creates intestinal symptoms only. There is not the slightest shred of evidence that it thickens, creates, or promotes mucous. May not increase mucus, but if you’re already feeling ill, the upset tummy/intestinal pain of lactose intolerance may push you from nausea to vomiting. Or just make you feel even worse than you were before.