Drinking ice water increases metabolism and helps lose weight? Chinese and Western perspectives say this...

A glass of refreshing ice water after exercise can not only effectively relieve heat, but the cool feeling after drinking it is even more satisfying! However, in addition to cooling down and quenching thirst, there has been a recent rumor circulating on the Internet that "moderate drinking of ice water below body temperature will require the body to consume more calories to raise the temperature in order to maintain a constant body temperature. Therefore, drinking ice water is a little trick to help increase metabolism and assist in weight loss." But does drinking ice water really have such a magical effect? Let’s hear what professional Chinese medicine practitioners and nutritionists have to say!

It is important to drink water moderately to protect your health! Water is needed to regulate body temperature and eliminate waste.

Drinking water in moderation is very important to human health! Water not only accounts for 70% of the human body, but also has the functions of regulating body temperature, transporting nutrients, and eliminating waste. Therefore, drinking enough water every day is one of the keys to maintaining the normal functioning of physiological functions.

As for how much water an adult should drink every day to meet the body's needs, it is generally recommended that healthy adults consume at least 1500 cc of water, and preferably no more than 3500 cc. It is also not advisable to gulp water in a short period of time. Instead, it is better to sip it moderately to avoid causing metabolic burden on the kidneys due to sudden excessive drinking of water.

Can drinking ice water increase your metabolism? Most studies still cannot help

In addition, what impact does water temperature have on the human body? Can drinking ice water in moderation really increase your metabolic rate and assist in weight loss?

In their joint book "Weight Loss Prescription: If you can't lose weight, it turns out that there is something wrong with your immune system!", Chinese medicine practitioner Chen Junru and nutritionist Jiang Miaoyun wrote: ” mentioned that according to past research data, in 2006, Swiss scientist Brown said that drinking distilled water at room temperature cannot increase energy consumption, while drinking cold water at 3°C ​​will increase energy consumption by 4.5% (15kj, 3.57 kcal) due to stimulation, which is far lower than the theoretical value of heating the water to body temperature (70 kj, 16.67 kcal), so the role of water temperature in managing obesity is questionable.

In addition, in 2007, German researcher Boschmann pointed out that the stimulation of water temperature cannot be used to explain the cardiovascular regulation and metabolic responses caused by drinking water. Therefore, based on the above viewpoints, it is impossible to understand from relevant research whether drinking warm water or ice water is helpful for weight loss.

Women with cold constitution and insufficient qi and blood may damage their spleen and stomach if they eat ice cream or drink cold drinks, and the cold air may block the relevant tendons and affect the circulation of qi and blood. In particular, the uterus is the organ in the body that requires the most qi and blood. Once the qi and blood flow are not smooth, it is easy to cause gynecological diseases.

Love of cold drinks reduces metabolic rate and easily leads to obesity

In addition, in 2015, Singaporean scholar Tan mentioned in his review of fluid temperature and athlete endurance that Australian scholar Siegel pointed out in his 2010 study that athletes' rectal temperature decreased by 0.3℃ and 0.6℃ respectively after drinking 4℃ cold water and -1℃ smoothies. From a metabolic rate perspective, this represents a 4.2% and 8.4% decrease in metabolic rate, respectively. If this value is converted into calories, it means that the metabolic rate of adult women will decrease by 50 calories and 100 calories respectively; and the metabolic rate of adult men will decrease by about 63 calories and 126 calories respectively.

This study is aimed at athletes whose body temperature rises during exercise. Their body temperature is higher than their core temperature during exercise, so a decrease in body temperature will not affect their metabolism, but will help improve their endurance during exercise. However, if we consider that for most people without exercise, such a decrease in metabolic rate is not a good thing. Frequent drinking of cold drinks or ice products may even lead to a decrease in metabolic rate and cause obesity.

Prevent gynecological diseases caused by poor blood circulation! Chinese medicine says that drinking warm water is better than ice water

From the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine, it is believed that drinking warm water can reduce the burden on the body! This prevents the body from consuming yang energy and heats the ice water to a constant temperature of 37°C, which is the same as the human body temperature. In particular, women with cold constitution and insufficient qi and blood may damage their spleen and stomach if they eat ice cream or drink cold drinks, and the cold air may block the relevant tendons and affect the circulation of qi and blood. In particular, the uterus is the organ in the body that requires the most qi and blood. Once the qi and blood flow are not smooth, it is easy to cause gynecological diseases.

Therefore, friends who want to lose weight are advised to develop regular exercise habits to improve blood circulation instead of hoping to promote metabolism by drinking ice water to help lose weight. At the same time, a normal work and rest schedule and a balanced diet are the only way to maintain health and a slim figure!