Today is one of the 24 solar terms-solar term of winter in China, which means that winter starts from now on.
When winter comes, people's awareness of keeping warm is stronger, and prefer to eat hotpot and drink hot water to keep warm, or drink more hot water to prevent cold. Drinking hot water has become a habit in people's life. Is it really good to drink more hot water?
People drink hot water for a variety of reasons. For women with during the period of dysmenorrhea , hot water may be the most familiar "friend". Dysmenorrhea may be caused by uterine contraction and ischemia during menstruation. When the time of uterine contraction becomes longer and the blood supply of endometrium decreases, spasmodic pain will appear. It's not just Chinese who drink hot water to treat menstrual pain. According to an Australian survey, 60% of girls with dysmenorrhea get non-medical advice such as hot water bottle, hot compress when they ask doctors for help. External hot compress can relieve some pain, but there is no evidence can show that drinking hot water really works, for the core temperature of the human body is very stable. There is an independent temperature sensor. Hot water stay in the stomach for at least 20 minutes after drinking, and the stomach is too far away from the uterus. Drinking hot water does not relieve dysmenorrhea, it just gives people a warm illusion.
For people with a cold, it is easy to lose water due to fever, sweating, loss of appetite and other reasons. It is understandable to drink water, but why drink hot water? A study in the United States has found that drinking hot water at 65 ℃ can help the nasal cavity ventilate compared with drinking cold water, simply because the nasal cavity inhales hot water to emit water vapor. Drinking hot water doesn't shorten the cold process, it only makes you feel better .
A large part of the reason is that the quality of direct drinking water is too poor and needs to be boiled and disinfected. However, alum, rust, residual chlorine, trihalomethane, heavy metal lead, mercury and bacterial viruses in tap water cannot be removed by boiling. In our life, we should try our best to avoid drinking repeatedly boiled water to avoid ingesting toxic nitrite. The most effective way to purify tap water is not to boil it but to use a water filter. Even if we use water filter, we should try our best to drink it all at once.
International Cancer Research Institute IARC subordinate the World Health Organization issued a report warning that drinking hot drinks above 65 ℃ may increase the risk of esophageal cancer. The normal tolerance temperature of esophageal mucosa is 40 ℃ ~ 50 ℃. If it exceeds 65 ℃, it may cause damage, ulceration, etc. Although mucocutaneous skin has the function of self-healing, long-term repeated stimulation will damage the mucocutaneous membrane, which may lead to cancer.
Drinking hot water is not as effective as we think, but even harmful to the body, so don't drink hot water blindly any more. If it's about water quality issue, you can buy a water filter; if you don't want to drink hot water, you can drink warm boiled water of about 40 degrees. Drinking a cup of warm boiled water in the morning can promote metabolism and make the body burn more calories in the day; Drinking warm boiled water can also help the body to discharge excess water and prevent edema; Warm water has the function of relaxing blood vessels and drinking warm boiled water can stimulate the blood flow to the intestine, help the human body digest and absorb; drinking warm water before going to bed and have a soothing effect, help people fall asleep faster.
