Stop Drinking Cold Water: 8 Hidden Dangers Of Drinking Ice Water

Summer is here, and you can see the mercury level rising, energy levels dipping, and the fan speed soaring. While winter is marked by heavy clothing and pitchers full of piping hot ginger tea to keep oneself warm, summer makes you look for light and breezy clothing and tall glasses full of cold beverages to beat the heat.

When out in the blazing sun, all we need back home is a big glass of ice-cold water to make all the absorbed heat simply escape out of us like steam, leaving us cool and refreshed. But before you gulp down that mind-numbing cold water, read on to know about these 8 dangers of drinking cold water that most of us are perhaps oblivious to.

1. It Can Make You Fat

A popular weight loss tip that has been doing the rounds lately is to consume a lot of cold water. This would make the body work harder and thus may burn more fat. But this is not completely true and there is a strong chance that drinking cold water would make the fat hard and thick, making it tough for the body to process. Hence, if you are watching your weight, stick to drinking warm water.

2. You Might Get Constipated

Sitting for hours in the loo to relieve ourselves can be very frustrating, painful, and a sure shot way to invite graver ailments. Warm water (or water at ambient temperature) helps speed up the digestion process, but ice-cold water does exactly the reverse. Therefore, if you have been suffering from constipation, make sure you pick up a glass of regular water rather than cold (1).

3. Makes You Feel Dehydrated

I am sure all of us have discovered that a glass of regular water is far more satisfying than a glass of cold water, yet the weather makes us opt for the latter. Just as in the case of digestion, ice-cold water makes rehydration slower. This is because to use that water, the body must increase its temperature.

4. Brings Down One’s Energy Levels

Did you know that drinking cold water makes you feel low on energy? At first, gulping large sips of that super cold water can make you feel refreshed. But you will start feeling that your energy is evaporating, and this is because the body needs to work harder to increase the temperature of the water for it to be used for bodily functions.

5. Leads To Digestive Issues

Drinking cold water can be tough on the digestive function as the cold temperature makes the stomach tighten up, thus making digestion difficult. People who drink a lot of cold water often experience gurgling sounds in their stomach, along with an upset or painful tummy, and sometimes nausea too.

6. Heart Rate Drops

Drinking ice cold water could lead to a drop in one’s heart rate. This is because the vagus nerve (read: the longest nerve, which happens to carry most of the complex functions amongst the 12 pairs of cranial nerves) that is at the back of the neck gets affected by the cold water (2). The heart, in response, slows down till thermoregulation is achieved.

7. Causes Throat Irritation

The way winter takes a toll on you by giving you a sore throat and a blocked nose, drinking cold water does the same. When the body takes in cold air or water, mucus is generated inside that acts as a humidifier. But in summer, when we drink cold water, the body feels more threatened; hence, it produces more mucus , which can cause a sore throat.

8. Headaches

‘Have you experienced how your brain freezes the moment you eat an ice-cream or drink very cold water? Drinking cold water can affect the cranial nerves, one of them being the vagus never that we just talked about. These nerves crowd the brain with signals; hence, causing a headache. Although a brain freeze can be a funny feeling to experience (obviously for a short while), these kinds of temporary disruptions aren’t good for the brain. So, watch out before you pick ice cold water over the safe and healthy regular water.

Summer heat can be quite difficult for the system to handle. The burning and blazing sun can easily drain your energy and make you crave for something to cool down. While a glass of cold water is high on your mind, give that a miss and instead go green by taking a glass from the ‘matka’ or the traditional earthen pot to wash off all the heat. Earthen pots have been used for centuries in India to store drinking water and they have more benefits than we could count (and none of the disadvantages of cold water). So, go ahead and give that potter a reason to smile and bring this traditional, natural, and enriching water cooler home!

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