What meats are good to eat when you have a fever and cold?
Jul 15, 2025
Source: Cainiu Health
Dr. Wang Lei
Introduction
Under normal circumstances, when choosing meat during a fever or cold, it is advisable to follow the principles of being light, easily digestible, and rich in nutrients. This helps replenish energy and nutrients and promotes recovery. Suitable meats include chicken, fish, lean pork, beef, and pigeon meat. During a fever or cold, in addition to moderately consuming the aforementioned meats, it is also important to eat more fresh vegetables and fruits to supplement vitamins and fluids.
Generally, when choosing meat during a fever or cold, it is advisable to follow the principles of lightness, easy digestion, and rich nutrition, which helps replenish energy and nutrients, promoting recovery. Suitable meats include chicken, fish, lean pork, beef, and pigeon meat. Detailed explanations are as follows:
1. Chicken: Chicken has a neutral nature and a sweet taste, and is rich in high-quality protein, amino acids, and vitamins, being easy to digest and absorb. Drinking chicken soup during a fever or cold can replenish fluids and nutrients, alleviate throat discomfort, and enhance physical resistance. It is best consumed as a stewed soup, with minimal seasoning.
2. Fish: Fish has a warm or neutral nature and a sweet taste, containing abundant protein, unsaturated fatty acids, and minerals, with tender flesh that imposes minimal digestive burden. For example, sea bass and crucian carp are suitable for steaming or making into soup, providing nutrition without placing excessive pressure on the gastrointestinal tract, thus aiding nutrient intake during a cold.
3. Lean Pork: Lean pork has a neutral nature and a sweet and salty taste, containing high-quality protein, iron, and B vitamins, which help replenish energy and iron. During a fever or cold, lean pork can be minced and cooked into porridge or sliced into thin strips for soup, maintaining a light flavor while providing nutrition that is easily digested and absorbed by the body.
4. Beef: Beef has a warm nature and a sweet taste, rich in protein, zinc, and amino acids, providing energy and enhancing immunity. During a fever or cold, lean beef can be selected, cooked until tender in small pieces or made into beef soup, ensuring it is not overly greasy to avoid digestive discomfort.
5. Pigeon Meat: Pigeon meat has a neutral nature and a salty taste, containing abundant protein, cartilage, and vitamins, offering rich nutrition and being easy to digest. During a fever or cold, stewing pigeon meat into soup provides a delicious flavor, replenishes nutrition and fluids, and helps alleviate physical weakness, making it suitable for restoring strength during a cold.
In addition to moderate consumption of the above meats during a fever or cold, it is also important to eat more fresh vegetables and fruits to supplement vitamins and fluids, maintain a light diet, avoid spicy and greasy foods, and ensure adequate rest to promote recovery.
