It ain’t a myth! My #momsays and ayurveda proves that drinking cold water can make you fat

In a bid to destroy mom’s nascent love affair with science and discourage her from enforcing her health hacks on me more strongly than ever before (thanks to science always proving her right), I came up with a superb plan. 

I decided to tease her with a study, published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, which totally defied her age-old disapproval of drinking cold water. As room temperature water, as we like to call it, in winter. 

The researchers of this study left no stone unturned to prove that drinking cold water could actually make you lose weight by making the body burn more calories in a bid to maintain a stable temperature. 

Also, read: A cup of cinnamon water a day can keep the weight gain away. Here’s how you can brew it

However, not even science could take away from mom’s credibility
The only good that came out of teasing her was that she actually learned how to Google stuff. And this newly-acquired skill made her come up with an even stronger confidence and unfortunately, proof to back her claim.

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Needless to say, she took no time to rub it in my face and made me literally mug up this particular excerpt from The Complete Book Of Ayurvedic Home Remedies that clearly stated how drinking chilled water during mealtime or any other time was unhealthy and could ruin your weight loss dreams. 

The logic behind it is that your body has got to maintain a steady temperature of around 37 degree Celsius under normal conditions and when you consume cold water, especially while eating, it tends to lower the body temperature. As a result, the body uses all the energy to get back to its normal temperature instead of using it for digestion. 

The book goes on to explain how drinking cold water and other beverages can make your blood vessels and stomach contract. This leads to the stomach being unable to break down the food properly and the undigested food starts getting fermented, leading to gastric issues, bloating, stomach aches, and water retention.

Not to mention, cold water also inhibits the breakdown of certain fats, as per the book. 

Also, read: My #momsays and science proves: Fight winter flus with giloy ka paani

Cold water can even screw your overall health
If the Ayurvedic and the Chinese philosophies of cold water creating an imbalance in the body and leading to a slower metabolism aren’t enough to discourage you from giving up this habit, maybe its other health consequences will.

According to a study, drinking cold water can thicken your mucus and aggravate cold and flu–especially in the winter when warm water offers respite from the cold. Another study, published in the PubMed Central, talks about cold water making it difficult for food to pass through the oesophagus (food pipe) and making it to your stomach. Now, this may sound harmless, but this condition can be quite a painful one.

So ladies, be careful the next time you grab that glass of icy-cold water or question what mom says.