My father once told me that if you drink a cold beverage while you are hot (i.e. from exercise, etc.), your body will be shocked in some way. It makes sense, but is there anything bad about this phenomenon? What, if anything, could go wrong from this happening?
Just wondering…
No cite, but this is a popular belief in many countries. There’s no evidence to support it, either. In several European countries, consuming drinks with ice in them is viewed as unhealthy, for any number of reasons. Again, no science supports this. I’d guess that this comes from the observation that extreme temperature change can cause physical damage; for instance, heated glass can crack (or even shatter) if suddenly dumped into ice water. However, I don’t think the temperatures of beverages and such are extreme enough to be in any way dangerous to human tissue.
Just avoid drinking liquid nitrogen and you’ll be fine. A 32 degree fahrenheit beverage won’t cause harm unless you’re already borderline hypothermic.
QtM, MD
If you like ice, then do not go to Europe. I’m sitting here with a drink that I’ve finished that has more ice in the glass than you’ll see in a week in Europe.
All I ever get is an ice cream headache.
Feels sooo gooood when it’s gone.