Drinking warm water — Explainer video

Transcript

Drinking warm water: what it does, and what it doesn't.

A glass of warm water after getting up is one of the most widely recommended drinking rituals. It is credited with better digestion, better-looking skin and a boosted metabolism. For most of these promises, there is no evidence.

The digestive tract absorbs water whether it arrives at 15 or at 40 degrees. Warm hydrates just as well as cold. The body quickly evens out the temperature. Warming a quarter of a litre from the fridge costs the body around 7 kilocalories on paper. So the temperature does not help with weight loss.

Even so, the ritual pays off for some: a fixed morning habit ensures adequate drinking more reliably than any good resolution. In winter or with a sensitive stomach, warm can be more pleasant, and that is reason enough. To many, though, cool feels more thirst-quenching. In the end, the amount is what counts.

And what about “detox”? Physiologically, the term is not defined. According to the German Nutrition Society, there is no scientific evidence for “waste deposits”. The liver and kidneys dispose of breakdown products. Normal drinking is enough for that, at any temperature.

How warm? Lukewarm to pleasantly warm, roughly 30 to 45 degrees. Drinks above 65 degrees are classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer as probably carcinogenic to the oesophagus.

Warm water is a feel-good ritual, not a remedy. Persistent digestive complaints or pain when swallowing should be assessed by a doctor.

A litre from the Castels spring in Mels brings 87 milligrams of calcium, 35 milligrams of magnesium and 265 milligrams of sulphate. Gentle warming does not change that.

More on this in the Piz Sardona Academy.