Drink Plenty of Fluids to Beat a Cold

[snopes]

The advice for conquering a cold is time-honored: Get plenty of rest and drink lots of fluids.

While it’s hard to argue against getting proper rest, some scientists suspect that loading up on liquid — that is, beyond the normal amount required in a day — may not do much good.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/11/health/11really.html

[snopes]

Along with flu season comes the age-old bits of wisdom from our grandmothers (and their grandmothers). But research has proven several to be false.

http://news.yahoo.com/busted-top-5-c...151432502.html

[iskinner]

I've always heard and given the advice "Drink plenty of fluids".

Not extra fluids to fight the cold.

But not to slack on drinking a normal amount of fluids because you feel horrible and the thought of drinking something may be very unpleasant. But you should anyway so that you do not add dehydration to the miserableness you are already feeling.

[overyonder]

Originally Posted by iskinner

I've always heard and given the advice "Drink plenty of fluids".

Not extra fluids to fight the cold.

But not to slack on drinking a normal amount of fluids because you feel horrible and the thought of drinking something may be very unpleasant. But you should anyway so that you do not add dehydration to the miserableness you are already feeling.

Agreed. That's not even mentioning the amount of water you lose from sweating and sneezing (gross, I know).

As far as "don't go in the cold under-dressed", it won't give you a cold. But it will make you more likely to catch one if your body is stressed (from being cold) and there are some viruses where you are.

O_Y

[BrokenBiscuit]

The OP article seemed to be treating "does extra fluid help fight infection" and "do infections make you lose more fluid" as equivalent. I'm sure I saw the article first time clicked, but for some reason I can't see it now.

FWIW, if someone's got a fever in hospital they err upwards in how much fluid is given. It's not an exact science. The usually quoted figure is an extra 10ml per kg/degree C rise, but that often translates to give an extra bag and see how they get on.

I'd be surprised if that's based on controlled studies, but it makes sense to me. If you have a temperature you sweat so you have extra insensible loss and you're less ready to eat and drink, plus other concerns that are probably specific to severe infection.

So does that translate to people with a mild cold need more fluid? Probably not. But people need to feel like they have some control over the course of their illness. Otherwise there's nothing to do but huddle down and curse.