Cool, Clear Water

Drinking water is essential to humans. Adults lose about 10 glasses of water daily. Some is replenished in the food we eat, and some is replenished in beverages, but most is replenished in the form of drinking water.

Some people are claiming that room-temperature drinking water is the only good water. Others claim it should be warm – or icy – or cold drinking water. Who is right?

In “Cool Water”, song writer Bob Nolan sings:

All day I face the barren waste

Without the taste of water,

Cool water.

Old Dan and I, with throats burned dry,

And souls that cry for water,

Cool, clear, water.

Cold Drinking Water

Old Dan and his rider were dying for cold drinking water. In fact, a few days without water, and both would literally be dead.

More than two thirds of a human’s weight is water. The human brain is 95% water and human blood is 82%. Old Dan’s rider would show signs of dehydration if he lost as little as 2% of his body’s water. His short-term memory would grow fuzzy. He would have trouble focusing on small things and experience daytime fatigue, commonly caused by dehydration.

They needed drinking water – preferably, cold drinking water.

Why Cold Drinking Water?

You may have heard that drinking water should be taken warm, even in hot weather. There are benefits, however, to choosing cold drinking water.

* It is more refreshing.

* It is more easily absorbed into your blood.

* It may burn more calories.

* It has zero calories, unlike other drinks.

Myths about Cold Drinking Water

For many years, people have circulated various myths about cold drinking water. These have no scientific basis, but are offered here for your information.

* Myth #1: Cold drinking water after meals causes cancer by solidifying ingested fat, slowing digestion, and lining intestine walls with the fat. Actually, body heat cancels out any effects of cold food or water.

* Myth #2: Cold drinking water after eating fruit is bad for you. This one, around since at least 1923, is probably based on the truth that too much beverage, at any temperature, may dilute digestive juices.

* Myth #3: Cold drinking water harms delicate stomach lining. Currently on the Internet, this has no truth. Stomach lining is extremely robust, as it must be to withstand the highly caustic digestive acids.

For years, health experts have recommended that average adults have at least eight glasses of water daily. That amount should be increased if you exercise, if the weather is hot, or when humidity is low. Overweight adults, who require more water, should add an additional glass for every 25 pounds of excess weight in order to speed metabolism.

The body needs water, and the most important question for most people is not whether the water should be warm or cold, but whether they are drinking enough.