So I should NEVER drink cold water?

I ordered up a mess of hiking gear today and while checking out the Camelbaks, I heard mention that people should never drink cold water because it's bad for the body. Then others said that it dilutes your stomach acid (isn't water generally ph neutral, as in it won't make acid less acidic?) and "shocks" your system because "hey man, your system is 98.6 degrees, it's too cold," (but if I stood outside when it's 98.6 degrees and drank 98.6 degree water, I'd die, so...) I mean I wouldn't put 200 degree coolant through an engine just because it runs 200 degrees. Then a few people said they saw research that proved the whole "cold water bad, warm water good" deal was crap and that cold water was better.

So is it bad to drink cold water with you meals? Or bad to drink anything with your meals? Or is it only ok to drink warm water? Or are most of us right in drinking cold water? Everyone claims to have research that proves one of the above harms your digestion or some such. Anyone got anything? Something credible?

When its hot, what do you crave?

Nobody craves a glass of piping hot water.

I can't stand super cold water. It burns. I dig water thats cool. But warm water? Bleh.

I was told once that warm water is easier for the body to absorb (or something). I don't know if that's true. Possibly your body needs to warm the water up before it moves it out of the stomach.

I do find that warm-ish water is probably the easiest to drink quickly. Say ~70~85.

So most of the time, I like cool or cold water. But when I've been exercising, I prefer something a bit warmer so that I can chug it quickly. Way back when I was cycling, I had no problem with warm water out of the bottle.

No, 200* water isn't going to cool your car. But the water you're drinking is not being circulated as coolant.

We were told in the army that it didn't matter what temp the water was, just to stay hydrated. Though with warm or hot water, your more likely to puke if you chug it. I have heard, dont know if its true, that if you drink cold water your body burns calories warming it back up.

I've heard warm water cools you off faster, as it doesn't cool your core off, so your body still thinks it's hot, and keeps the blood circulating through your limbs. Dont know if this is true, but it makes sense. I drink alot if water, most of it very cold.

Joey

Salanis wrote: No, 200* water isn't going to cool your car. But the water you're drinking is not being circulated as coolant.

Not exactly, I didn't take the analogy that far, but it is cooling you off.

I found this with a quick search before I go to bed (gotta get up early in the morning and beat the tourists; I like living at the beach) - the American College of Sports Medicine recommends drinking cold water, as it is absorbed and sent to cool your limbs faster than warm water. That's what I was always taught, that cold water is absorbed faster.

I just read someone saying that "hot water will freeze quicker than cold water." I wouldn't trust them to tell me what time it is.

Jeepers check this out about warm water freezing faster than cold water:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mpemba_effect

You may be more likely to cramp up after drinking very cold water, as your body will restrict blood flow to the immediate area to conserve heat.

I probably drink more water than anyone on the planet. Most of it is consumed at room temperature because it's easier to drink quickly and it's also difficult to keep large quantities cold and portable. But I also love ice cold water when I'm really hot. I don't think that the temperature of the water is as important as the volume.

That being said, if you're talking about Camelbacks, I wouldn't worry too much about it. I fill mine full of water and ice before I head out, but it doesn't stay cold for very long. But, I do think that having the bag of cool water on my back helps keep me cool all by itself.

the cold water while hiking thing is only because your body warms up the water by burning calories. The fewer calories you have to devote to hiking, the harder the hike will be. Don't drink body temperature water,

Sorta cool water (not cold) is easier to drink than ice cold water when exerting yourself.

While dirt biking with a Camelbak, I used crushed ice in it for two reasons: the ice would melt pretty quickly on a hot day but still keep the water temperature down to where it wasn't nasty tasting and I preferred a drink of cool to cold water, it helped me keep focused. On the old style Camelbaks without insulation, if worn right next to a riding jersey the ice filled bladder would help me stay cool as well. On a hot day I looked goofier than usual with the chest protector sticking way out in the back, but I felt a lot better.

Humans have been drinking warm water for thousands of years. Ice machines come readily available, people start drinking cold water, then we get all kinds of new cancers, AIDS, etc. You do the math.*

*this is complete nonsense :)

I cant help but wonder if this all applies to cold beer as well..

for the camelback, i usually fill a third of the way and freeze over night, then fill the rest the next day. It has worked for me thus far, the ice doesn't stick to the inside of the camel back and sorta becomes a giant ice cube. It's in one of the smaller backpack styles, and keeps me cool til lunch time or there abouts.

I've always heard that cold water will help keep you cool, but takes longer to actually start re-hydrating you. I don't like really cold water anyways. No more than 5 ice cubes for me!

BobOfTheFuture wrote: When its hot, what do you crave?

Electrolytes.

Brawndo

I bought the Camelbak UnBottle, which is heavier but insulated. I'm putting it in a pack with a hydration sleeve anyway, but I figured if it keeps the water cooler, then all the better. Usually I got to lengths beyond normal to get my pack weight down, so I don't know if I should have just gotten the bare bladder (very appetizing word, by the way) or the UnBottle.

Someone asked the same thing at Backpacker

I ususally drink water and room temp or with ice at a meal. When hiking I just drink as is...when you are super hot its probably best not to drink ice cold water... When I was still in school, a high school soccer player came into the hopital ER I was working at with an arrythmia. She had appatently chugged down a cold bottle of water, and where she was hot, she had an esophageal spasm - bad enough it slapped her heart into an arrythmia...

What concerned me was that pretty much all of us have experienced an esophageal spasm (may not have known what it was) but this one sent her to her grave!

I actually have a great example that might help you. Yesterday, I did a hot endurance mountain biking race. (8 hour solo, temperatures over 93 degrees). So of course I was drinking a lot of water. I went through 10 16oz bottles. I made sure they had tons of ice cubes in them because I wanted them to be cold during the whole lap. I'm not sure about the intensity of your hiking, or hiking in general, but I can imagine it isn't easy work. Keeping your body temperature down is important for keeping your power. During hot days cold water is your best friend. Drinking warm water doesn't do much for you. Your core temperatures are too hot and warm water doesn't really help cool them down, so then you drink even more water. This will cause bloating and remember the more water you drink the more nutrients and electrolytes you will lose through sweating. So you will have to compensate for that loss. The body stores enough glycogen (sugars/fuel) for about one hour to an hour and a half. After that you will need food supplements, hence an electrolyte drink or food. Here's the thing with electrolyte drinks, they only taste good when they are cold. If they are warm at all they are just gross and they won't really quench your thirst. Which can lead to either drinking too much of the stuff or not drinking enough. The body can only process 250-300 calories an hour while exercising. But back to the cold water. If your core temps get too high, you lose power. It's different for each person so I can't give a magic number. The power loss curve looks like it walked off a cliff. So yes to cold water. Hotter the day, the more important it is to have cold water and have electrolyte supplements to compensate for the extra sweating and nutrient loss. Keep drinking water when using electrolytes to keep the circulation high thus getting the nutrients to your body faster.

JeepinMatt wrote: I bought the Camelbak UnBottle, which is heavier but insulated. I'm putting it in a pack with a hydration sleeve anyway, but I figured if it keeps the water cooler, then all the better. Usually I got to lengths beyond normal to get my pack weight down, so I don't know if I should have just gotten the bare bladder (very appetizing word, by the way) or the UnBottle. Someone asked the same thing at Backpacker

I have the unbottle and like it for its versatility.

Infact when my wife was breast feeding our daughter, and the baby was very very little, I'd have it hung right by her side of the bed so she could get some water if she was thirsty during the long hours of breast feeding..

I certainly don't crave warm tea, let's put it that way.

I'm certain you're not going to get ice-cold water any time you're outside and its hot, insulated bladder or not. Even if you freeze it and/or add ice cubes, it'll still start heating up as soon as you step foot outside (technically as soon as you remove the ice/bladder from the freezer, but whatever). What it will get you is 45-50 degree water or so, which is what I'm referring to as cold (when I'm outside for hours and it's 105)

Pay a visit to Florida anytime in the next 2 months and try and say that drinking cold water is bad.

In reply to benzbaron:

I tried freezing two different ice cube trays, at the same time, on the driveway on one of our -12°F evenings here in Wisconsin a couple of years ago. One tray had the hottest water and one had the coldest water, both from the faucet, and which do you think froze first? If you said the colder one, you'd be right. Its nice when the schooling you pay for proves itself in the real world. I'm not saying that the Mpemba Effect is fake, but...