Dhriti Chandru Bhavnani

Medical Myth or Fact: Drinking cold water makes you fat

There are a few medical myths that have been passed down through generations. Although some ancestral beliefs are scientifically proven to be true, others remain as myths in today’s medically advanced world. One of the most popular one includes the belief that drinking cold water makes us fat.

 

Water is an essential part of daily human life. With 75% of our body made up of it, The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicineestimates that an adult man requires approximately 3.7 litres of water and an adult woman requires about 2.7 litres of water daily. 1 Although, this amount might vary according to physical activities, overall health and environment.  The function of water in our body include; regulation of many metabolic processes, used to transfer many solutes around the body, helps in skin elasticity lubricates cushions and joints, thermoregulation and helps in the body’s excretion system (in form of sweat and urine).2The lack of water could lead to a condition known as dehydration which leads to fatigue, dizziness or even headaches. 3

 

The common misconception that drinking cold water makes you fat is indeed misleading despite the articles which state that drinking cold water after a meal solidifies fat causing it to accumulate in the body. This is because it is scientifically proven that water contains zero calories, no matter at what temperature. Water contains vitamins and minerals but contains neither fats nor carbohydrates, making it impossible to conclude that drinking water; whether hot or cold causes weight gain. 4

 

Infact, drinking cold water can actually help in losing weight. This is because when cold water is ingested, the body attempts to convert this cold water into body temperature as a result of homeostasis. In doing so, it requires energy which comes from the burning of carbohydrates and fats. However, according to Beth Kitchin, Ph.D., R.D., helping professor specializing in nutrition science at The University of Alabama at Birmingham, efforts to drink cold water in an attempt to lose weight may be futile. Although drinking cold water instead of warm could burn a few extra calories, the difference is too minimal to impact weight loss. Although there are no common scientific links which can be found between water temperature and metabolic activity, drinking cold water can help rehydrate the body during high endurance workouts hence, allowing to last longer and burn more calories during exercises. 5 Therefore, drinking water is said to have beneficial effects on the body and no concrete evidence on its effects on weight gain. 

 

With the rise of hoaxes in a rapidly growing world of social media, many medical myths continue to mislead the society. Due to this, many continue to believe that cold water indeed cause weight gain. Although many more scientific researches has to be conducted on this topic, the existing information points that drinking cold water does not in any way cause weight gain or fat accumulation. What scientific data proves is that water is an essential component for many body systems and has a plethora of benefits including metabolic processes, skin elasticity, osmoregulation, thermoregulation and many more.