This is the season to fatten the doctor?s bank account. Everybody I know knows of someone else who had fallen ill. With the weather so erratic, hot during the day and raining and cold during the night, it is difficult not to succumb. It is no fun being unwell. I was struck down by fever since Monday. And adhering to the popular grandmothers? advice of ?Starve a fever, feed a cold,? I went ahead and starved myself. One slice of bread and one cup of milk for lunch and half a packet of instant noodles for dinner was what I had for meals for the past three days.
Thinking back, that was a rather extreme fasting. No wonder I felt even sicklier after the fever went away. Anyway, I am feeling better now, well enough to join in the Third Scrutiny during the Sunset Mass just now. Included in this Scrutiny was the Presentation of The Lord?s Prayer.
One time, after Jesus had finished praying, one of His disciples asked Him to teach them a prayer.
?Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.?
He said to them, “When you pray, this is what to say:
Father, may your name be held holy,
your kingdom come;
give us each day our daily bread,
and forgive us our sins,
for we ourselves forgive each one
who is in debt to us.
And do not put us to the test.
Luke 11:1-4 (NJB)
And Jesus gave them that which has become known as The Lord?s Prayer. This basic Prayer is one every Christian knows by heart. This is one prayer that had humbled me every time I recited it. This is one gift that came straight from the mouth of the Christ, one that He Himself had used. This is one prayer that all Christians treasure.
usually when i get sick, i would have to eat more. already your body is at its weakest and if you starve it, where is it gonna get the nutrients to fight off the germs 😀
You are right, starving myself to that extent was a silly thing to do but I did not have the appetite anyway. One of the things that helped most was drinking lots of water. Perhaps the only good that came out of all this is my pants are not that tight at the waist anymore. 🙂
natasha is right. usually when one’s sick, one should eat more but the problem is when one is sick, usually one does not have the appetite to eat. yes! drinking lots of water is very important!
The Chinese also believe that when one is running a fever, one should not eat rice, porridge, etc. because that will aggravate the situation. That is a fact as there was a time when I had a fever and continued eating and the fever did not subside. I guess different bodies react differently. On the other hand, I always eat a lot when I have a cold. I can attest that it works. Well, I suvived it to be able to tell this grandmother’s tale to you and Natasha here, didn’t I?
My mom used to say “Starve a fever, feed a cold”…. or was it the other way around? 🙂
“Starve a fever, feed a cold” is correct. The logic that is when you have a cold, you need nutrition to boost up your defenses against infections. On the other hand, eating too much, epecially rice, when having bouts of fever will only aggravate it. This could be due to the stress put on the body’s digestive system which is already sluggish, which caused the fever in the first place.