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3 habits of highly ineffective employees
Nagging Question
Does Drinking Ice Water Burn Calories?
Hydration, maybe; weight loss, doubtful
Does drinking ice water burn more calories than drinking room-temp water?
It’s true that when you drink ice water, your body uses energy (calories) to raise the liquid’s temperature to body temperature. But not very much.
Roger Clemens, DrPH (doctor of public health) in nutrition and biological chemistry, and associate director of regulatory science at the USC School of Pharmacy, walked us through the math. For the sake of simplicity, he didn’t take thermodynamics into account, which would change the numbers very slightly.
You have an 8-ounce glass of ice-cold water in front of you. That’s about 240 grams of water.
When you drink the ice water, which is roughly 4 degrees Celsius, your body will expend calories to bring it to body temperature, which is about 37.5 degrees Celsius; that’s a difference of 33.5 degrees. To raise 1 gram of water 1 degree Celsius, 1 calorie is expended. (This is a “little” calorie—what scientists use to measure small units of energy. The calories we refer to colloquially are actually 1,000 of these and are known as kilocalories in the science world.)
Raising 240 grams of water by 33.5 degrees Celsius will take 33.5 calories x 240 grams of water, which equals 8,040 little calories.
Dividing 8,040 by 1,000 gives us 8.04 food calories (kilocalories). Therefore, you’ll burn about 8 calories for each glass of iced calorie-free beverage you drink. That’s equal to about one Life Saver: not exactly a weight-loss miracle.
Using Clemens’s figures, it would take about 435 8-ounce glasses of ice water to lose a pound.
And do we have to tell you? Consuming large quantities of cold water can have serious health effects, such as an overall lowering of body temperature, a decrease in the functionality of the gastrointestinal tract, and, in extreme cases, anemia. Drinking a lot of water can also lead to water intoxication.
Roxanne Webber is an associate editor at CHOW.
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It can also trigger diabetes. My dad started drinking tons of ice water to lose weight, and dropped like 30 pounds in a month. Turns out he was diabetic, and his blood sugar was totally out of control. His endocrinologist said she knew of several people who had discovered they were diabetic that way--apparently it messes with your glucose metabolism.
ok so it adds under normal condition even if you just do 4 glasses a day ,about 2-3 pounds of weight loss too you in a yr
whoopie doo
If this were true, I'd have a tanker full of Aquafina in the driveway.
Interesting thing about the diabetes. In Eastern medicine, drinking or eating a lot of cold things leads to a lot of digestive problems (which diabetes is linked to).
And lowering your body temperature by drinking cold water generally will make you gain weight by lowering your metabolism.
I drink a lot of ice water, but it hasn't made me lose weight . . . kinda wish it did, though! I do find that if I am especially stressed out a good glass of ice-cold water helps me calm down!
scoobyhed, drinking too much water can't cause diabetes. Two symptoms of diabetes are unexplained rapid weight loss and excessive thirst. It's likely your dad had diabetes before his "water diet," and he just didn't know it yet. For more symptoms of diabetes go here: http://www.diabetes.org/diabetes-symp...
Has an actual means of losing weight it isn't going to work. But if you're going to drink something anyway, why not drink it cold?
the health experts say drink 8 glasses a day
diet /no diet don't matter but....
water at room temp is not enjoyable for MOST people. i think COLD is an incentive to drink the proper amount every day
it is for me
Drinking water doesn't directly cause you to loose weight, but its an essential part of the overall process of losing weight (exercise, nutrition, water). Your body REQUIRES water for ALL of its biological processes, metabolism being one of them, muscle recovery and growth being another. Since muscle is what allows you to lose weight (by burning energy) you must supply your body with the amount of water it needs or it will slow that process down.
Will cold water do any more than warm water, well, probably not, as indicated by this article, but water is water, warm or cold. Even tea and coffee are a good source of water in general, but 64oz of those is quite a bit so the rest can be plain water.
Actually, you don't absolutely need to drink 8 glasses of water a day. The general rule of thumb is: if you're thirsty, drink. And you all are right-as far as I know, drinking water doesn't cause diabetes. It is very possible, Scoobyhed, that your father's thirst was caused by his diabetes (diabetes causes your body to excrete sugar in your urine, and the sugar pulls lots of water out with it). Keeping hydrated during workouts is also very important.
Whilst drinking ice water does not have a direct link to calorie burning, keeping well hydrated does have links to weight loss. If your body is dehydrated the liver does not work as efficiently at its job, which can be summed up by metabolism control. So you're dehydrated? Your metabolism drops.
Whilst drinking ice water does not have a direct link to calorie burning, keeping well hydrated does have links to weight loss. If your body is dehydrated the liver does not work as efficiently at its job, which can be summed up by metabolism control. So you're dehydrated? Your metabolism drops.
You could accomplish the same thermodynamic effect by removing all your clothes. Your body would burn calories to maintain the heat lost due to convection.
Women should take this recommendation seriously. I am a scientist, it is okay.
Will If u were drink ice water and ur weight don't less. Now it will be less..because its like psychological thing. coz now u know about this information..Have A Slim Body :P
As a wildland firefighter, we were asked to drink a gallon of water a day before and during training. I noticed a big difference between drinking and not drinking the gallon. During the fire season, we were required to carry 2 gallons of water for the desert fires, which we easily drank. On really hot days I drank 3 gallons a day. In the higher cooler altitudes we were required to carry 1.5 gallons, which most days I would go through most to all it. My body healed much faster and I was able to perform high energy activities for long periods when I was well hydrated (and fed). Thirst is the not the first sign of dehydration, but usually it is the one we notice first. Being properly hydrated allows your body to perform/metabolize at its best. If you drink lots of water, remember to consume electrolytes once in a while (sodium=salt, calcium, potassium, chlorine, phosphate, magnesium). Side note: Do not focus on loosing weight; focus on BEING your perfect weight.
Well it depends on waht water you drink and if you work out alot and for me i drink water all day besides tea and coffee but i love my water and i work out or not
Miss Needle is incorrect in her statement that drinking cold water will LOWER your metabolism. There is an actual study that showed drinking 16 oz. of ice water in less than 5 minutes causes your body's metabolism to jump almost 40% for up to 90 minutes.
And WHancox is incorrect. Drinking Ice Cold water does have a direct link to fat burning. Your metabolism actually INCREASES because your core temp has dropped drastically and your body starts burning BROWN ADIPOSE tissue (fat) to generate heat to bring your organs back to 98.6 degrees.
{Normal Adipose tissue (subcutaneous fat) stored in your skin is used by muscles for energy when there are no other sources of energy (carbs, proteins, fats) in your blood}
So by drinking ICE water (32 degrees), you cause your body to jump it's metabolic rate overall, you burn FAT, and you replenish your cells to a more hydrated state for optimal efficiency.
If people get a triple bonus for drinking ice water, better hydration, fat burning and a metabolic boost, then there is no doubt, drinking ice water in certain quantities can HELP burn body fat.
The post by "BIL", the scientist, is incorrect in that it is NOT the same as removing your clothes. That makes your body colder on the outside and blood flows away from your skin surface to the core to retain heat for the core and your brain. That reduces your metabolism to keep the blood from carrying heat from your core to the extremities. The result is that your body will burn less fuel as your exterior temperature drops. Then, as you get into a hypothermic condition, NOT GOOD, you get into dangerous territory. So, "BIL" may be a scientist, but probably NOT in the biological sciences. I am guessing that he is an engineer either ME or CE. So DO not think it is the same as taking off your clothes when it is ICE cold outside.
The first poster (scoobyhed) that said this "can also trigger diabetes" is incorrect as mollyjade pointed out. As you see the doctor said that they "DISCOVER" they are diabetic by drinking ice water. That is the same as any other diagnostic tool to "discover" a problem. The diagnostic tool is NOT the cause of the problem. So drinking ice water will NOT cause you to be diabetic.
Drinking anything but pure water, like tea or coffee is NOT a substitute for water as the chemicals of tea and coffee LEACH water molecules and can actually cause you to LOSE water faster and make you dehydrated. Caffeine, alcohol and salt all dehydrate the body. If you are drinking these, then you need to make sure you drink pure water to compensate for the dehydration effect.
Although, Tea and Coffee BOTH have been shown to increase your short-term metabolic rate to help lose body fat. The problem is, lipolysis (fat break down) requires water for the reaction. If you are in a dehydrated state because you drank coffee or tea, your body will catabolize (break down) muscle tissue to get water. Then you lose muscle mass, which is the major user of body fat. Less muscle means less metabolism and less use of stored body fat. So drinking coffee and tea can cause dehydration and indirectly cause a long-term metabolic drop, i.e. FAT storage (more weight). Which means you really do need to drink those 8 - 10 glasses of pure water to make sure your hydration levels are always as high as possible.
And the firefighter is correct. The US military also requires soldiers to "HYDRATE" all through the day even if they are NOT thirsty, because thirst is the LAST indicator that you are in a more severe dehydration position. It like the RED light on your car that FINALLY goes on just before your engine overheats and cooks. The temp gauge slowly goes up and you rarely look or notice that, but when the RED Light finally goes on, it is too late and you need to shut off your engine RIGHT THEN. Same with thirst, your body is slowly going into the red and then finally when you are in a critical situation, your brain finally gets the THIRST red light to get some water NOW!. But you are already dehydrated.
The best athletes and coaches know this. The best athletes have the least amount of fat. The best athletes are CONTINUALLY drinking water all day and always have a water bottle with them. Think there may be a correlation between the most fit, least fat bodies that drink water continually and those fat laden bodies that are drinking tea and coffee???? Yup, there is, but I have blabbed enough.
Recent studies have actually demonstrated that drinking caffeinated beverages won't make you dehydrated. While it is true that caffeine has a diuretic effect, the amount of water actually lost from caffeine is less than the amount of water your body received from the caffeinated beverage in the first place.
Also, with hydration-you have to be careful that you don't drink too much water. If you are thirsty (or showing other signs of dehydration, such as decreased urine output or dark urine) then you should drink. However, drinking too much water can cause a condition called water intoxication, where your blood electrolyte levels become too diluted. You can develop serious complications, such as seizures. I know of at least three cases where people literally died from water intoxication-and one of the people in question WAS an athlete!
The RuralNurse is correct in that the amount of water lost is not as much as you drank if drinking caffeinated beverages. It should be noted that many sodas also have SALT included as ingredients (potassium chloride and sodium chloride are both salts) that increase your dehydration level when you drink them so that you are MORE thirsty and thereby buy more sodas.
There is a net hydration effect in drinking most beverages including alcoholic. That however is VERY misleading to state out of context and why many people think that drinking coffee or tea is like drinking water or a good substitute for water.
I am sure the nurse would agree that NO doctor ever prescribed coffee or tea for anyone who was dehydrated. Also, the medical community is not prone to having hospital patients getting Coffee or Tea IVs. Rather, they use Saline or Glucose dripped IVs to make sure the patients have enough fluids (water) to recover. As such, coffee and tea are NOT a substitute for pure water when it comes to the necessary requirements for active living. Nobody should think that they can substitute 8 glasses of coffee or tea for 8 glasses of water and expect to have the same hydration effects or that their bodies will run just as well on coffee and tea as they will on water. Do not trust my word for this, ask any nutritionist or Olympic level coach or athlete if there is any real substitute for water including electrolyte drinks such as gatorade or powerade.
As for the water intoxication, that is very true. This fact is used out of context by many people to justify not drinking much water. That is similar to the truth that if you breathe too much air, too fast, you can die from hyperventilation, where your body does not create a successful enough exchange of CO2 out of your body until the toxicity of CO2 buildup overwhelms the system. That is about as rare as Water Intoxication. But that is no excuse for not breathing deeply and exercising hard that increases your breathing to rapid levels.
It is VERY difficult to reach water intoxication levels unless you are being forced to drink way past the point that you normally stop. I would go so far as to say, it is so rare that anyone reaches water intoxication levels in normal life, that it has never happened to anyone. However, the few cases that I know of water intoxication deaths, were for example a woman in California that was in a water drinking competition sponsored by a Radio station to see who could drink the most water in a short time frame. She lost and hours later died of water intoxication. The DJs were actually warned about this during the competition and they were later fired from the station, but the lady of a couple children was still dead from doing something very un-natural. I would say that is not a normal circumstance of every day life.
The only other case I know of personally was the result of a misguided young man in San Antonio that had decided to PURIFY his body by drinking as much water as he could force himself to drink and he also died of water intoxication. That is also not a normal part of life and he drank over 3 gallons in less than 2 hours. Even some body builders will drink 3 gallons of water over an entire DAY and not have intoxication problems. The firefighter mentioned that he was required to drink 2 gallons, much more than 8 glasses of water, and he had no problem.
Without hesitation I would say, NOBODY should worry about drinking too much water when you are thirsty anymore than you should worry about breathing too much when you get winded.
Still, this thread is about the effects of drinking cold water on burning calories. Answer. Yes it does.