Why we should drink hot drinks instead of chilled drinks on hot days? 7 reasons that will change how you look at that chilled glass of water in summer.
1. HOT TEA COOLS YOU DOWN.
This may sound like the biggest paradox: ice actually triggers your body to heat up. When we drink cold water in summer, our bodies have to compensate for the difference in temperature by heating up more, which leads to even more overheating and related conditions like sunstroke and dizziness. Drinking warm drinks allows the body to relax, calm down, and cool itself down to a normal homeostatic temperature (equilibrium) without needing to compensate for the difference in temperature.
Drinking a hot drink does result in a lower amount of heat stored inside your body, provided the additional sweat that’s produced when you drink the hot drink can evaporate. The increased rate of perspiration is the key. Although sweat may seem like a nuisance, the body perspires for a very good reason. When sweat evaporates from the skin, energy is absorbed into the air as part of the reaction, thereby cooling the body. A larger amount of sweat means more cooling, which more than counteracts the small amount of heat contained in a hot beverage relative to the entire body.
The caveat is that your sweat must fully evaporate in order to produce the desired cooling effect. If you’re exercising hard, or wearing too many clothes, or in a very humid environment, you may produce sweat more quickly than it can evaporate, in which case it is no longer desirable to ramp up your sweat rate further.
2. WARM DRINKS HELP YOU DIGEST.
In hot, humid, summer weather, our bodies can accumulate too much internal ‘heat’ and ‘damp’ energy that can become pathogenic and cause illness. The digestive organs are particularly vulnerable to this.
Drinking ice water or cold water hampers the process of digesting food as it causes your blood vessels to shrink. This restricts blood flow to the digestive system, in effect weakening our digestive function. Sipping warm tea during and after meals helps to keep your digestive organs fully functional.
Moreover, as the food is not digested properly, the nutrients are lost or not absorbed by the body.
3. IT HELPS YOU TO ABSORB MORE NUTRIENTS.
When due to the intake of cold beverages, the activity of your digestive system is lowered, the amount of nutrition you receive from the food you ate is harmfully decreased. Moreover, since the body’s temperature is 37 degrees Celsius, drinking something at a very low temperature, your body has to spend energy to regulate its temperature. This spent energy is otherwise used to digest food and absorb nutrients, thereby leaving your body short of nutrition.
4. IT KEEPS YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM STRONG.
Warm beverages promote circulation and nutrient absorption in the body. Consuming cold drinks speed up the gastrointestinal tract, so organs cannot properly absorb nutrition. Over time, if the body isn’t receiving sufficient nutrients needed for growth and repair, organs become more vulnerable to coldness and related illnesses.
5. IT KEEPS YOUR LUNGS HEALTHY.
Yes, a warmer body means healthier lungs. Lung disease is not just related to smoking and genetics. Long term accumulation of cold in the body can really weaken lung function to the point of developing chronic dis-eases like sinus infections, allergies, hay fever and asthma. The stomach is the ‘mother’ of the lung; a strong stomach is needed for healthy lung function. On a more immediate level, excessive cold entering the body also causes blood vessels in the throat to constrict. This is caused by the buildup of respiratory mucosa, which is a protective layer of the respiratory tract. When this layer gets congested, the respiratory tract is exposed and becomes vulnerable to various infections and hence the chances of your throat turning sore are raised.
6. IT PROMOTES A HEALTHY BLOOD FLOW AND REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEM.
Drinking warm beverages promotes healthy blood flow. Excessive consumption of cold water can negatively affect the reproductive system, causing menstrual disorders, cramps and eventually impaired physiological functions like infertility. Over-accumulation of cold also creates moisture and dampness: the perfect conditions for things like bacteria, Candida, and parasites.
7. COLD DRINKS DECREASE YOUR HEART RATE.
Drinking ice water or cold water decreases your heart rate. Studies have shown that drinking ice water stimulates the vagus nerve. The vagus nerve is the 10th cranial nerve and is an important part of the body’s autonomous nervous system that controls involuntary actions of the body. The vagus nerve mediates the lowering of the heart rate and the low temperatures of ice-cold water act as a stimulus to the nerve, which causes the heart rate to drop.
As an all-over conclusion, I think that we can state that, while chilled drinks are simply more harmful and place a larger burden on the body, a hot cup of tea on a hot day can be refreshing, while it is also gentle to your body.
Are you open to try a refreshing cup of hot tea with me?
