Do you burn more calories when you’re ill?

Answer 1

A high temperature causes loads of calories to be burnt, plus you usually become weak and sometimes faint due to the amount of energy your body is using to fight the infection

Answer 2

Yes. The body is fighting the illness and the metabolic (basic speed the body works) rate increases. If your body temperature is raised you will also be using more calories as it takes energy to produce heat (a calorie is just a standard measurement of heat producing energy). Add this to the fact that the body uses up stores of body fat (the body's way of storing the calories) just to perform the vital functions of staying alive, as quite often when we are feeling ill we don't eat our normal amount of food. So that is why people who are ill often lose weight.

Answer 3

I imagine you must burn some calories when you're ill as your body puts a fair bit of effort into fighting a fever (assuming you're not lying in bed stuffing your face cos you're only ill with a slight cold!) but I can't imagine it would be near as many compared to normal calories burnt from normal every day activity.

Answer 4

Difficult to say. It depends on the type of illness. In case of Hyperactive thyroid, Cancer and blood poisoning, the metabloic rate is higher than normal. Hence you tend to loose weight inspite of having a good appetite.
In other illness, it is the loss of appetite that is responsible for loss of calories.

Answer 5

Depends on the illness. Some illnesses increase the metabolic rate so more calories are burnt.

Answer 6

no but you do loose calories everything you do burns calories!! but when you are ill your body is fighting the illness which makes you ill this is your immune system nothing to do with the calories you want to burn.

Answer 7

if you have a fever you burn calories faster

Answer 8

No but you have less appetite and therefore eat less and may well lose wight!!!

Answer 9

doubtful but u might not eat much