Many people believe that eating eggs when feverish and sick is not only light and easy to digest but also nutritious, which is beneficial for recovery. However, this practice is unscientific. Eating eggs when you have a fever will increase the body's internal heat. As this heat cannot be dissipated, it is like "adding fuel to the fire," causing the fever to worsen.
Li Zhi, an Associate Chief Physician of the Internal Medicine Department at Wangjing Hospital of the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, told reporters that while eggs are indeed rich in nutrients, they should not be consumed in large amounts during a fever, especially fried or scrambled eggs. This is because eggs mainly contain ovalbumin and globulin, which are complete proteins with 99.7% absorbability by the human body. Consuming eggs generates a certain amount of extra heat, increasing the body's core temperature and exacerbating fever symptoms. Similarly, other high-protein foods such as lean meat and fish will also add extra heat to the body and should be consumed as little as possible.
The diet of a patient with a fever should be light, easily digestible, and rich in vitamins. It is generally best to consist of liquid or semi-liquid foods, such as rice soup, congee, noodles, and lotus root starch, paired with some fresh fruits. After the fever subsides, one can eat foods like clear chicken noodle soup and vegetable puree congee. During the later stages of recovery, one can supplement with more high-protein foods such as lean meat, fish, and tofu.