Doctors often advise us to drink water to keep different health issues at bay. Generally, people worry about the purity of water and install water purifiers. But there is something else also that people should be worried about. It is the temperature of the water they drink. Now, you may wonder why one should be worried about the temperature. This is because water temperature plays a vital role as it goes inside our body. Hot water vs cold water – what’s better for you?
Cold water reacts in a different mechanism similarly hot water reacts in a different mechanism. Both have different side effects and benefits. So, let us get a clear idea about the different properties, disadvantages, and benefits of warm water and cold water.
Pros of Drinking Hot Water
Hot water is beneficial to you in many ways and the most important one is it helps you to get rid of the toxins from your body. Here are a few other benefits of drinking hot water:
1. Aids Digestion
Drinking hot water helps in breaking down the food particles which in turn speeds up the process of digestion in our body.
2. Increases Metabolism Rate
Drinking hot water increases the rate of metabolism of your body which enhances the process of utilising the energy from the breakdown of the food particles.
3. Relieves the Problems Caused by Constipation
If you are someone who suffers from constipation, then drinking hot water will give you relief from this problem.
4. Aids Weight Loss
Hot water promotes weight loss as the internal body temperature is switched which activates the metabolism.
5. Improves Blood Circulation
Hot water helps improve blood circulation and also acts as a stress buster.
6. Helps People Suffering from Achalasia
Hot water helps people who are diagnosed with Achalasia, a condition in which the oesophagus has some problem passing the food into the stomach.
7. Relieves Pain
Drinking hot water gives you relief from period cramps, migraine, and joint pain.
8. Alleviates Nasal Congestion
Drinking hot water helps you to get rid of nasal congestion
9. Calms Nervous System
Calming your nervous system is another benefit of warm water.
Cons of Drinking Hot Water
Though there are so many benefits of drinking warm water for your health, overdoing it will not be beneficial to you. Here are a few side effects of drinking hot water:
1. Imbalance Of Water Concentration
Drinking too much hot water frequently may create a body imbalance because excess of anything is not good for your health.
2. Contaminated Water
If you are taking hot water directly from the tap, then it will be fully contaminated if the pipes are rusty and old as hot water will dissolve the contaminants effectively.
3. Causes Internal Burns
Hot water causes blisters in the mouth and it also damages the inner lining of the oesophagus and the digestive tract.
4. Insomnia
Consuming excessive amounts of hot water, especially at night can affect your sleep pattern.
5. Kidney Problem
Drinking too much hot water creates pressure on your kidneys because of which the kidneys cannot function properly.
6. Affects Blood Volume
Another disadvantage of drinking warm water is that it increases blood volume which may cause the heart to work more.
7. Damages Internal Organs
Frequently Drinking hot water daily can damage or burn the internal organs of your body.
Pros of Drinking Cold Water
Let us break a few myths about cold water. Apart from all the risks associated with cold water, it also has some vital benefits. The benefits of drinking cold water are listed below:
1. Perfect Combatant
The best way to quench your thirst and get a refreshed feeling in this scorching heat can only be served by cold water.
2. Post Workout Session
Cold water offers perfect hydration after a tight workout session in hot weather conditions, but make sure water is not excessively cold.
3. Preventing Dehydration
Drinking cold water reduces the rate of sweating thereby, mitigating the chances of dehydration.
4. Burns Calories
Drinking an ample amount of ice-chilled cold water aids in burning calories.
5. Boosts Metabolism Rate
Drinking cold water may help in increasing your metabolism rate.
6. Staying Focused
Research shows that drinking ice-cold water can enhance your ability to stay active and helps you stay focused.
7. Reduces Pain
Drinking ice-cold water increases adrenaline production. This eventually increases your ability to bear the pain.
8. Detoxification
Cold water also helps us get rid of harmful toxins from our bodies.
Cons of Drinking Cold Water
The disadvantages of drinking cold water are listed as follows:
1. Thickening of Mucous in the Nose
Research shows that drinking cold water leads to nasal mucous thickening.
2. Headaches
Most people get headaches after drinking cold water.
3. Tooth Sensitivity
People suffering from sensitivity issues cannot tolerate extremes of temperature and thus cold water causes discomfort in their teeth.
4. Reduces Heart Rate
Drinking too much cold water cools down the nerves and thereby causes an imbalance in the heart rate.
5. Increases Fat
Cold water can harden your body’s fats. This creates problems in burning fat when one tries to put down their weight.
Hot Water Vs Cold Water – What is Best for You?
After going through all the advantages and disadvantages of drinking warm water and cold water, it is time to decide which one is good for your health. In a nutshell, we can say that both types of water have their specific benefits and could be drunk at different times. The actual question should be what is the correct time to drink hot water and cold water? To understand this, you need to follow a few tips that are listed below:
1. After exercise, avoid drinking hot water straight away. Even after returning home from the scorching heat, avoid the same. The reason behind this is simple – your body temperature remains a bit high post exercise or after you’ve been exposed to heat. So, drinking hot water with an already raised body temperature may turn out to be harmful.
2. Drink a glass of hot water right after you wake up. This is the best time for drinking warm water. It will help you kickstart your metabolism.
3. In case of cold water, avoid drinking it right after having your meal. Cold water generally needs more energy for digesting food. Slowed-down digestion can eventually lead to indigestion.
Conclusion
There are numerous benefits of drinking warm water as well as cold water. Some people normally prefer warm water over cold water and the rest prefer either both or only cold water. However, the basic purpose of water, that is, hydration is served by both types.
So when it comes to hot water vs cold water, we have no specific answer. If they are consumed at the right time, both will be good for health. To sum up, whether to prefer hot water or cold water depends primarily on personal choice and secondarily on time of consumption.
