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Most people would rather drink cold water to quench their thirst than warm water for various reasons. Coldwater is perceived to be a better option for thirst and hydration than hot or warm water. However, there are various advantages and disadvantages associated with drinking cold water.

Pros:

1. Coldwater burns calories: If you jump into a cold shower, your body instantly works to get it back up to its normal temperature – as it does this, your metabolism can increase by up to 550 percent of its resting level, burning calories in the process. Drinking cold water is thought to have a similar effect, so if you don’t want to be under icy water, at least try supping it.

2. Coldwater gives you glowing skin: Hot water strips your skin of essential oils, but cold water does the opposite. It also gives you a healthy glow by encouraging blood to rush to the skin’s surface. Contrary to popular belief, it doesn’t actually make pores smaller – that’s all set in your genes – but two out of three aren’t bad.

3. Coldwater gives you shiny hair: It takes a brave soul to wash their hair in cold water, but also a sensible and shiny soul. Coldwater makes the cuticles of your hair lie flatter, and this in turn reflects more light.

4. Coldwater wakes you up: And not just in a comedy, bucket-in-the-face sort of way. Coldwater activates cold sensors just under our skin, which then increase our heart rate and add a surge of adrenaline to give you that jittery (but good), alive feeling.

5. It makes you happy: Ice cream is scientifically proven, by neuroscientists at the Institute of Psychiatry in London, to make people happy, stimulating the orbitofrontal cortex (or ‘enjoyment bit’) of the brain. It is veering a little off track, but if ice cream can make you happy, then we’ll wager ice-water can too.

6. Coldwater eases pain: Adrenaline not only makes you feel more alive, it makes you feel more pain-free by cleverly distracting your brain from niggling aches. The effect can last longer-term too: sportsmen and women sit in ice baths after matches; the cold water reduces blood flow to the muscles before taking them out of the ice allows them to fill back up with new, less lactic acid-filled blood.

7. Coldwater boosts your immune system: A few years ago, a German study revealed people who showered for two minutes in cold water developed fewer colds than those who took a hot shower. Why? Because the mild stress makes your immune system think it should be doing something and gives it a mini ‘workout’.

8. Coldwater boosts your sex life: Forget all that nonsense about things ‘hotting up’, you need to be cooling it down. Being in cold water is thought to improve levels of the sex hormones testosterone and oestrogen.

9. Excellent post-workout drink: It is a known fact that during exercises, your body temperature increases. To lower your body temperature post-workout, it is recommended to drink cold water. Read about the best foods to eat before and after a workout.

10. Combats heat stroke: Drinking cold water during summers is good for your health. Coldwater gets absorbed quickly by the body as compared to warm or hot water. When you are back home from the scorching heat or if you experience a heat stroke, drink a glass of cold water.

Cons:

1. Restricted digestion: When you drink cold beverages, your blood vessels shrink, your digestion becomes restricted, and hydration is hindered.

2. It may lead to dehydration: Instead of working to digest the food and absorb the nutrients to create energy, your body expends energy to regulate your temperature. This can lead to water loss.

3. Reduced Immunity: Drinking cold water after a meal creates excess mucus in your body, which can lead to a decrease in the immune system function, making it easier to catch cold and other illnesses.

4. Fat solidification: If you eat food while drinking cold beverages or immediately after, the water temperature solidifies fats from the foods you’ve just eaten, and the body in turn finds it hard to digest the unwanted fats from your body.

5. May increase Toxins: The climate we live in, our eating habits, lifestyle- everything contributes to building up toxins in our body. Warm water aids in removing these toxins from the body and cleanses the system, especially the kidneys. It also promotes perspiration thereby not only cooling the body but also removing unwanted particles. It also helps in purifying the bloodstream and frequent urination.

6. Cold Water Promotes indigestion: Coldwater deactivates the digestive system and decreases its performance. It also makes the breakdown of oily food difficult by making the semisolid food solid before it is absorbed by the intestine

7. Increases Pain: Cold water may be a cause for excess body pain especially when one has an injury or is undergoing the menstrual cycle. Hot water has a soothing effect on these kinds of pain while cold water does not.

8. Hastens Aging: Hydration is one essential thing that is required by our skin in order to remain healthy and young. Coldwater increases the number of toxins in the body thereby hastening the aging process.

9. Tougher bowel movements: Your bowel movement is worse if you consistently consume cold water.