(Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
There are few wrong ways to stay hydrated<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n Some people may prefer cold water because they consider it to be thirst-quenching. However, the science doesn\u2019t point in one specific direction. <\/p>\n
One study found that crushed ice is beneficial compared with cold water when trying to work out in the heat. Other research has found that drinking hot water might help to cool you down faster in dry heat.<\/p>\n
Gastroenterologist Dr. Brian Weiner told the Cleveland Clinic that there isn\u2019t a lot of science to back up the claim of whether or not cold water is good for you.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all need to hydrate ourselves. That\u2019s critical. In terms of studies or science about this, it is relatively limited,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n
“There\u2019s absolutely no benefit to the temperature of your water. The most important thing is to stay hydrated,\u201d registered dietitian Beth Czerwony told WKYC.<\/p>\n
Men should drink about 13 cups of water and other beverages a day. Women should drink around nine.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re outdoors, Robert Rimorin, the athletic trainer for the University of New Mexico baseball team, said staying hydrated and drinking plenty of cool fluids can help you to avoid the two main types of heat-related illnesses, which are heat exhaustion and heat stroke. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe first way people can prevent heat exhaustion is to stay hydrated,\u201d Rimorin says. \u201cIt will help keep you, your tissues and your organs cool.\u201d<\/p>\n
Athletes may have more of a benefit from drinking cold water<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n Some research has found that cold water can significantly delay the increase in core body temperature during an exercise session.<\/p>\n
Weiner, who has studied water temperatures and the ice diet for years, recently explained to The Washington Post<\/em> that this may be because blood vessels in the mouth and upper esophagus that are exposed to cold water and ice cool the blood that is then circulated throughout the body.<\/p>\nCold tap water, he said, seems to cool athletes down faster, and cold beverages were better than room-temperature or hot beverages.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt turns out that sweating stops before fluid can completely be incorporated into the body. There\u2019s some kind of reflex that acknowledges liquid intake, and studies have shown that it kicks in more at the cold tap water level,\u201d said Weiner.<\/p>\n
Super cold water might not be ideal for everyone<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n\n
\n<\/p>\n
open image in gallery<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>Experts say people experiencing heat exhaustion may want to drink water that\u2019s close to room temperature. This is cause of possible nerve reactions to cold beverages (Getty Images\/iStock)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nPennsylvania Emergency Dr. Harry Emmerich told WMDT that super cold water is hard for the digestive system to handle, and can cause esophageal spasm, which creates chest pains and abdominal cramping. That\u2019s in addition to the sensation of \u201cbrain freeze.\u201d<\/p>\n
“It’s kind of the equivalent to getting a brain freeze when you drink a slurpee. You get such a significant difference between your body temperature and the ice cold water, that will be at 32 degrees, which will cause spasm, cause your heart rate to drop, and cause your blood temperatures to drop,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
During heat exhaustion, drinking ice water will not cause a stroke, Shelton noted. But, it could cause someone to lose consciousness.<\/p>\n
“There are reports of rare cases who when they consume cold beverages they do pass out. This is an unrelated illness it doesn’t relate to heat. This can happen to someone whether they are in warm temperatures, cold temps \u2014 it’s just a nerve-related consequence that can happen,” family physician Dr. Karla Robinson told WCNC. <\/p>\n
People who may be experiencing heat exhaustion should consider drinking water that\u2019s closer to room temperature, Evansville Dr. David Schultz told Tristate Homepage.com.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe cold ice water gets into the esophagus and the stomach, and there are nerves along the esophagus and stomach known as the vagus nerves,\u201d Dr. Schultz explains. \u201cThese nerves can fire up, send a signal to the brain and actually cause an individual to pass out and lose consciousness briefly.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story. The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it. Your support makes all the difference. Read more Things are hotting up across the U.S. \u2014\u00a0this past week saw hundreds of record highs broken from the Plains to the East Coast under the threat of an oppressive heat dome, and temperatures will soon head back up again. Staying hydrated is a crucial step to keeping safe from dangerously high temperatures. Dehydration, which occurs when the body uses or loses more fluid than it takes in and reduces your body\u2019s ability to sweat and maintain a normal temperature, can result in heat injury, urinary and kidney problems, seizures, and low blood volume that is potentially deadly. The fix is drinking more water \u2014 especially before exercise or exposure to such conditions. \u201cDrinking more water in hot or humid weather helps lower body temperature and replaces water lost through sweating,\u201d the Mayo Clinic explains. But, does it matter what kind of water you drink? Is ice water in extreme heat better? Here\u2019s what the experts have to say… open image in gallery This summer is already turning up the heat across much of the contig…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2851,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2850"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2850"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2850\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2851"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}