If you suffer from headaches, joint pains, constipation, digestive problems, or more – you may just be dehydrated. People often go about their days forgetting to drink enough water, a powerful liquid that helps keep your bodily functions in tip-top shape.
Considering that water makes up to 60% percent of your body,it’s in your best interest to re hydrate daily — but not just with cold water. Studies reveal that drinking warm water can increase water’s benefits for the human body.
What Does Drinking Cold Water Do To You?
Before we jump into the benefits of drinking warm/hot water (80 to 106 degrees Fahrenheit), let’s see why you shouldn’t only consume cold/cool water (45 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit).
According to this review paper in European Journal of Pharmaceutical and Medical Research, the following happens when you drink cold water:
- Your blood vessels become smaller and restrict your digestive abilities
- It can make your body work harder trying to regulate new, colder temperatures instead of working to turn food you’ve eaten into energy
- Creates excess mucus in your body and increases your likelihood of getting sick
- It can solidify fats and make it harder for your body to digest (unwanted) fats
7 Reasons to Drink Warm Water
Asian cultures have preached drinking warm water for millennia. Practices in Traditional Chinese Medicine and Traditional Hindu Medicine maintain that it is good for you and have beneficial physiological effects.
1. Improves Metabolism
Drinking warm or hot water can promote a healthier metabolism and quicker metabolic rates. Ideally, you should drink it first thing in the morning with a splash of lemon juice because it may help kick-start your metabolism.
2. Boosts Digestion
A great way to flush out toxins from your body is to drink a glass of warm to hot. Water at those temperatures break down foods and oils faster which makes your digestive proves easier. In this case, the best time to drink warm water is after a meal.
According to the British Homeopathic Association, a cup of boiled before breakfast can also cleanse your stomach and aid digestion.
3. Cleans and Purifies Your Blood
Ayurvedic medicine suggests storing water in a copper vessel, like a copper water bottle. They maintain that copper helps purify blood and kill harmful bacteria. In the morning, you should drink your warm out of a copper container to increase your body’s natural detoxification process.
However, some health professionals suggest that while the mineral has its health benefits, drinking from a copper water bottle may not have any significant impact on your overall health.
4. Battles Obesity and High Cholesterol
Warm water and lemon (or lime) mixtures can be especially beneficial for people who have diabetes. It can also help break down build-up in arteries which increases blood circulation. Depending on your condition, it may help regulate your weight and regulate blood sugar levels.
In addition to citrus mixtures, you can also pour your warm to hot over tea between meals. However, the Institute for Traditional Medicine suggests that the best time to consume water this way is after you’ve had a chance to digest your food.
5. Eases Constipation
The bloating you feel during bouts of constipation might be due to dehydration — remembering to drink warm consistently throughout the day can help keep your bowel movements regular. It’s also recommended that you do this on an empty stomach.
6. Lowers Mucus Accumulation
In one study, researchers explored the effects of hot, cold, and chicken soup on mucus accumulation. They found that when participants consumed hot, the amount of mucus accumulation decreased in their nose, throat, and gastrointestinal tract.
This suggests that drinking at higher temperatures lowers the likelihood of catching a virus. It also keeps mucus moving which doesn’t allow bacteria to remain and grow in those areas.
We couldn’t help but add this last point in — a study published in Science suggests that drinking a hot beverage, in this case, can improve your mood. Researchers have theorized that our brain processes “warmth” and how we judge people in similar ways. For example, people who briefly held a hot coffee cup while looking at a “target person” perceived them as significantly warmer than those who briefly held a cup of iced coffee.
So while it may be a bit of a stretch, the pleasurable feeling that drinking warm gives you might help you see other people as “warmer” or more pleasurable as well.