You should drink more water, but how should you take it?
As we’ve covered numerous times around these parts, hydration is of the utmost importance. If you’re not drinking enough water, and chances are good that you’re not, you gotta start drinking more. Seriously. But you might be wondering if there’s a particular manner in which you should consume all of this additional water. Is it best enjoyed hot? Cold? Deliberately made lukewarm in a microwave? I knew a guy who liked it like that once. The answer may surprise you.
Let’s start with drinking your water hot. Obviously, it shouldn’t be hot enough to scald you, but some have said that drinking your water pleasantly hot is good for your blood circulation and digestion. It’s also a nice, healthy treat on an especially cold day, particularly when you’ve been marching around in the snow for a few hours. Hot chocolate is nice and all, but the hydration power from hot water will feel like a godsend.
On the other hand, drinking your water ice cold has been shown to improve its hydration capabilities. Why that is, I couldn’t precisely tell you; if I were to make an educated guess, perhaps the cooling effect lowers your body temperature, so you sweat out less of your water reserves? I dunno. It’s darn refreshing after a hot summer run, though, I’ll tell you that for free, especially since a cold glass of water is great for soothing aching muscles after an intense workout.
So, out of all of the temperature extremes, which is the best way to take your water? The answer is… none of them. Or any of them. Truth be told, no concrete scientific evidence has been found that makes one manner of water consumption objectively better than the other, and when the bottom line is just drinking more water, it doesn’t particularly matter. As long as you’re getting more water in you, feel free to enjoy it however you like, even if you’re a weirdo who makes it lukewarm in the microwave.
