Yay Or Nay: Is Warm or Cold Water Better?

by Kiersten Hickman, for the “Eat This, Not That” e-zine 

People have a lot of opinions about drinking ice cold water. Some claim that drinking cold water is bad for your digestion and can cause mucus build-up. Others claim that cold water makes you burn more calories and aids with exercise performance. What's the truth? Is it okay to enjoy an ice-cold cup of water on a hot summer day? Long story short—yes. There’s no scientific evidence that ice cold water is bad for you, and one major benefit of drinking ice cold water is exactly what you would think it would be—for your hydration.

Why drinking cold water helps with hydration: First, it's important to note that drinking water at any temperature is going to help your body get hydrated. Staying hydrated is important for regulating your body temperature, keeps your organs functioning properly, delivers nutrients to your body's cells, and can even help with preventing infections, according to Harvard Health.

Yet, while consuming water at any temperature can help with your body's hydration, drinking cool water has been proven to specifically help with assisting in rehydration more so than other temperatures. One study from the International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Medicine studied male athletes who consumed water at different temperatures and found that drinking water at about 60 degrees F (along with a higher intake of water) resulted in less sweating compared to other temps. The study concluded that cool tap water can be the ultimate temperature for rehydration purposes, especially for athletes, when working out in the heat.
 
Along with drinking it, cold water has been proven to also help athlete recovery in another way. One study from the Human Kinetics Journal found that a 10-minute cold shower immediately after an exercise session can assist with hydration status. Plus, a 10 minute cold shower (also known as "cold water therapy") has been shown to help athletes to feel less sore and less fatigued, according to the European Journal of Applied Physiology.

Even with so much to benefit from drinking cold water, there are some wellness experts who claim that cold water actually isn't good for your body's health, but their theories have evidently been debunked.

In ayurvedic medicinal practices, it has been stated that drinking ice cold water is bad for your body's overall digestion. This specific claim states that drinking cold water can constrict your blood vessels, resulting in your body's inability to absorb certain nutrients and vitamins, and food. Drinking warm water is also a cultural practice for many, where the claim is that warm water can help with speeding up the digestion process and can even be good for your gut health. All in all, while your blood vessels do play an important role in digestion, there is no scientific evidence to back the claim that drinking cold water can slow down your body's digestion rate. However, even though your body may have to work a bit to raise body temperature after cold water is consumed, you only need a mere 8 calories to do this, resulting in insignificant calorie expenditure.

The bottom line is, just drink more water: While there is much debate over drinking ice cold water versus drinking room temperature water, medical experts can agree on one thing–just drink water to stay hydrated. Your preferences in water temperature won't matter when it comes to the ultimate goal of why you're drinking water in the first place—to stay hydrated and to keep your body healthy and happy.