Is Cold Water Good For You?

Not too long ago, I got an email from one of my regular blog readers asking me whether drinking cold water is good for weight loss.

Initially, I ignored this question, but when I got the same question from 4 other subscribers, I decided to go online and carry out an informed research based on the effects of drinking cold water.

Not too long ago, I got an email from one of my regular blog readers asking me whether drinking cold water is good for weight loss.

Initially, I ignored this question, but when I got the same question from 4 other subscribers, I decided to go online and carry out an informed research based on the effects of drinking cold water.

Personally, I love drinking cold water and I drink water like a fish, I take as much as 3 – 4 litres of water daily, I guess that may be the reason I have not fallen sick for the past 15 years straight.

Now back to our question, "Is drinking cold water good for weight loss?"

Now, I'm going to treat it from a general angle as well as how it may affect someone trying to lose weight.

Now my answer to that question is, It depends.

You see there are several factors we are going to look at before we arrive at a conclusion whether cold water is good for health or not.

There are varying opinions of researchers as to drinking cold water while exercising. Many suggest taking water that has the same room temperature, while others say that cold water is good after a physical exercise to help cool down than the trepid water at room temperature.

However, from a detailed online analysis of the scientific process that take place while cold water is taken, I was able to make an objective conclusion.

Now here is the scientific analysis in a lay man's terms; I try as much as possible to simply the process so that even a 12 year old will understand this concept.

1. The temperature of cold water is almost at Zero degrees Celsius.

2. The Body temperature for humans is approximate 37 degrees Celsius.

When cold water is taken, the human body needs to raise the temperature of the cold water to the body temperature. To do this, calories or energy is used up under very complex biological processes. When this happens, calories and fat are burnt in the process. However, this process do not burn significant fat and thus can not be noticed or be used to replace exercise and nutrition.

So drinking cold water is not bad in itself as it helps in fat burning.

BUT, there are times cold water should NOT be taken.

You should NOT take cold water when eating any food that has oil or fat in it. This is because when you drink cold water while eating any of these foods, it helps the fats and oil in the foods you eat to solidfy, thus making digestion to be difficult and postponed.

The result, when fats and oil is not digested in the body, they form bad Cholesterols (LDL Cholesterol) and clog the arteries, and capilaries, thus narrowing them so that blood flow will be restricted and subsequently giving more work to the heart to do while pumping blood to the whole circulatory system of the body.

So instead of drinking cold water while eating our local oily foods, it will be best to instead drink a warm water, or warm Lipton tea (green tea) or coffee, these fluids will help the oil and fat in our foods to dissolve quickly and aid digestion, thus preventing clogged arteries that could result in hypertension or other heart problems.

Best times to drink cold water

If you are exercising your body and sweating profusely, drinking of cold water is very good to help your body cool down quickly (A process which burns fat). At this point when you exercise, your body absorbs cold water faster than water at room temperature. Moreover, it helps to quickly replace the fluids you have lost via sweats.

Other good times to take cold water is when the body is dehydrated which usually happens when you have been in the Sun for a long time, at this point taking ordinary water hardly helps the situation.

Cold water can be safely taken at any other time of the day provided it's not taken with foods that contain oil and fats.

So is drinking Cold water good for you? My answer is a big YES, but depends on when you do. As a habit, learn to drink a lot of water everyday, it helps you in more ways than you know. I drink cold water and love the taste, but I also drink lots of ordinary water when cold water is not available.