I heard on Doctor Oz once that drinking cold water can help burn calories in a rather passive way since the body will have to work to warm it back up. Would this concept work practically in general? Could I just turn down the thermostat some, and it help me lose weight?
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3This almost belongs on Skeptics.SE! But honestly, I'm quite sure you can't drink enough water to put a dent in your calorie expenditure...– Ivo FlipseCommented Mar 22, 2011 at 20:45
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3I believe that 1 calorie (not Kilo!) is the amount of energy it takes to warm up 1g of water one degree celcius. So I would guess that the energy needed to warm up a liter of water in your stomach from 0 to 37degrees is 37kcal?– svristCommented Mar 22, 2011 at 20:48
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The fact that being cold doesnt make you lose weight indicates something is wrong with the popular theory that weight gain is as simple calories in minus calories burned...– J. Win.Commented Mar 23, 2011 at 18:30
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3 Answers
Honestly, there's almost no way this can be true. This question was answered on Straight Dope.com (though there they tried using beer...):
It takes 36.000 calories to heat one liter water from 0 to 37 degrees Celsius. However, the calories we use in food energy are kilocalories, so that's only 36 kcal.
Assuming you probably only drink 2 liters tops, that's a whopping 70 kcal you just burned there!
However, this is drinking nearly freezing water, which is highly unpleasant. And because the water travels through your body, the heat loss is spread out through your mouth, gullet and stomach. This might not reduce the local temperature enough to get your body actively warming it and potentially could be warmed up from your regular activities, so there wouldn't be a net gain.
A more positive side effect would be that drinking lots of water fills your stomach and might reduce your need to eat, which probably will do more for your diet than the actual body warming.
More info can be found on howstuffworks.com and MetaFilter.com
answered Mar 22, 2011 at 21:08
@svrist is right in his comment. However, in nutrition, 1kcal = 1 Cal. So, if you drank 1 gallon of freezing cold water, you would burn about 140 calories. Besides being extremely difficult, this isn't really significant enough to make a big difference. But if you're staying hydrated at the gym, you might as well do it with ice water to squeeze out an extra few calories. However, if you're looking to lose weight, remember your body will retain a lot of this excess water causing you to gain weight (although healthy weight). As far as turning down the thermostat, it might save on your heating, but you'd be lucky to see any difference without turning the AC on overdrive (simply, just no).
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water retention happends when you don't drink enough water, not when you drink too much of it– SebasCommented Jul 21, 2013 at 14:09
Hmm I hadn't heard that about cold drinks. I do know that hot drinks like hot tea aid in digestion. Tea is a very popular drink in Asia. Look at the people in Japan who have the most centenarians and Asia has a 0-5% obesity rate (study in 2008).
