Warm or Cold Water: Which is technically better when you're thirsty?

[SpyderEdgeForever]

I have heard it said that there is less shock on the body's digestion and other systems when someone is thirsty and drinks room temperature or even slightly warm water than cold water. Ofcourse, cold water feels more refreshing. I also have been told that drinking water before one eats a meal will get the digestive enzymes flowing more readily, but others claim it is best to wait to drink after you are finished eating. What is the reality behind these claims?

[JD Spydo]

It's an interesting question for sure. But when it comes to cold water versus hot/warm water or even room temperature water is truly up for debate but I'm not so sure that there is one concrete answer for that question.

I'm kind of a water connoisseur myself and I have an Aquarain unit which is a gravity fed filter/purifier that gives me great tasting water with all the trace minerals left in it. Truly I believe that the overall quality of the water has more bearing on whether or not it is good for you.

It would be ideal to live in the proximity of a really pure spring or aquifer. But not all of us have that convenience so a really top quality water filter and/or purifier is the ticket to healthy water in my humble opinion. I've been a pure water fanatic for at least 25 years now and have been using a filter/purifier for almost that long. I hardly ever drink soda pop or any other soft drinks I mainly just drink water or good quality coffee or white tea.

But this should be a most interesting thread. I would also love to discuss the survival/prepper aspects of procuring pure, potable drinking water too.

[Doc Dan]

I prefer cold water, but it can give me a headache if I am very hot. In Southeast Asia, the common wisdom in this very hot part of the world is to desire warm or hot water.

[SpyderEdgeForever]

Thank you for the advice and information. I also would like to know more ways to get access to clean water in survival and other situations.

[Echo63]

I don't know which is technically better, but i prefer "room temperature water"
around 20 degrees C works well for me.
There have been days where all i had was warm (35-40 degC) water, which typically makes me feel terrible - that same temperature would probably be great if i was cold.

[Doc Dan]

A little clorox bleach will help with the potability of water. It will kill all of the bacteria and viruses. Iodine works well, too, but it has a funny taste. However, sometimes you need a filter of some sort to get out toxins and debris, as well.
http://www.offthegridnews.com/how-to-2/ ... er-filter/

[ThePeacent]

The cold liquids that we drink "rob" us from our body heat as the digestive system needs an extra energy expenditure to heat them as they go through us.
Blood vessels and tissues get cold and can even be damaged by ingesting very low temperature foods and drinks -that's why you should never drink snow in a survival situation, as it would rob your heat and you'd expend lots of extra calories heating it up-.

The sensible nerves of our body are also affected by low temp. fluids and drinking them can cause dizziness, pain, numbness and other symptoms which would be especially bad in survival or extreme situations. We've all felt this when eating an ice cream or drinking iced tea: too much of it at a time can cause headache and lots of pain in your head, jaw and face.

And it's also the reason why catastrophe/extreme situations survivors are given hot chocolate or a cup of hot coffee, as warm or hot drinks are both calming and comforting as well as good sources of heat to warm our insides and recover nerve sensitivity, normal blood temp. and circulation and so on

[Evil D]

Seems pretty logical that drinks that match our own body's temperature would be ideal, but mankind went through an awful lot of work to make sure he had cold drinks in his kitchen and it hasn't killed us yet.

[JD Spydo]

A little clorox bleach will help with the potability of water. It will kill all of the bacteria and viruses. Iodine works well, too, but it has a funny taste. However, sometimes you need a filter of some sort to get out toxins and debris, as well.
http://www.offthegridnews.com/how-to-2/ ... er-filter/

That's a great point you make "Doc-Dan" because a lot of people cringe when you mention bleach, clorox or chlorine period. The fear and aprehension is just outright overblown in my humble opinion. Because for decades the vast majority of city water companies use bleach to treat their water against parasites and pathogens with great success I might add.

Now for those of you who are super paranoid about having bleach in your drinking water an old science teacher of mine who later on became a good friend assured me that if you put out an open container of water with at least a 3 inch opening he said that all of the bleach will evaporate within two days or even less in warmer weather.

Like I said in an earlier post I use an "Aquarain" water filter/purifier and I even run all my tap water and any bottled water that is given to me through it and it makes great tasting super pure drinking water.

Believe me the critters that bleach kills and eliminates are far more potentially dangerous than any small amount of bleach you might injest even if you did drink it without filtering it. Just look how long municipal water supplies have been using chlorine to treat their water and it's still the overall opinion that the USA has some of the best drinking water on the planet in spite of the treatments they use.

[Doc Dan]

It does not take very much bleach to make water potable. The amount required is not harmful. We are not talking about swimming pool levels of chlorine.