# Are hot drinks better for you than cold drinks (when eating)? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 4, 2013, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-hot-drinks-better-for-you-than-cold-drinks-when-eating/646043 "2013-01-04T10:01:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-hot-drinks-better-for-you-than-cold-drinks-when-eating/646043/1 "2013-01-04T10:01:56Z")
I got this email circular sent on to me by my Mum, who seems to love sending me such stuff. I’m guessing a lot of it is pseudo-science nonsense which I’d quite like to stop getting! So is the following nonsense or true? Can I tell her it’s nonsense and to stop sending me misleading crap, or is it good motherly advice? Sentences like “it will lead to cancer” rather than “it can lead to cancer” don’t lead me to entirely trust this stuff. > [@](#): > > A very good article which takes two minutes to read. I’m sending this to persons I care about…I hope you do too!!! > > The Chinese and Japanese drink hot tea with their meals, not cold water, maybe it is time we adopt their drinking habit while eating. > > For those who like to drink cold water, this article is applicable to you. It is nice to have a cup of cold drink after a meal. However, the cold water will solidify the oily stuff that you have just consumed. It will slow down the digestion. Once this ‘sludge’ reacts with the acid, it will break down and be absorbed by the intestine faster than the solid food. It will line the intestine. Very soon, this will turn into fats and lead to cancer. It is best to drink hot soup or warm water after a meal. > > French fries and Burgers are the biggest enemy of heart health. A coke after that gives more power to this demon. Avoid them for your Heart’s Health ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-hot-drinks-better-for-you-than-cold-drinks-when-eating/646043/2 "2013-01-04T10:31:49Z")
The thing contradicts itself anyway - if the fats solidify in your digestive system, they’re not going to affect your heart - \*drinking hot things so you absorb the fat into your system faster \*(even assuming that’s true) is only going to make things worse for your heart. Is it cancer, or heart disease that we should be terrified of here - it can’t be both. But it’s bullshit. Our bodies generate, and dispose of heat all the time - any fat that is liquid at body heat is going to be fine - anything that is waxy and solid at body heat is not going to stay that way just because you drank some warm tea. ---
**Author:** ![andrewbub](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@andrewbub](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andrewbub)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-hot-drinks-better-for-you-than-cold-drinks-when-eating/646043/3 "2013-01-04T11:01:07Z")
i’d also assume your body changes the temperature of food/drink hot or cold to 98.6 degrees F pretty fast. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-hot-drinks-better-for-you-than-cold-drinks-when-eating/646043/4 "2013-01-04T13:46:49Z")
As a side note: Koreans don’t drink anything at all during meals. I found this rather surprising as they “drink” soup in place of where I would drink water/tea. At the end of the meal, they will drink water/tea in their rice bowl to consume the leftover rice. To answer your question, I don’t believe they drink hot/cold drinks for health reasons, just cultural or individual tastes. ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-hot-drinks-better-for-you-than-cold-drinks-when-eating/646043/5 "2013-01-04T17:18:01Z")
Drink more cold stuff - burn calories heating it up to body temperature! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-hot-drinks-better-for-you-than-cold-drinks-when-eating/646043/6 "2013-01-04T17:58:49Z")
> [@andrewbub](#): > > i’d also assume your body changes the temperature of food/drink hot or cold to 98.6 degrees F pretty fast. This. Drink 12 ounces of beverage that’s at ~40F, and in fairly short order your 150-200 pound body would have it up to damn near 98.6, even if your body _wasn’t_ actually generating heat - which it is. FWIW [Snopes called bullshit on this one.](http://www.snopes.com/medical/myths/coldwater.asp) Reminds me of the TV commercial in which a woman claims that “they can’t put anything on the internet that isn’t true” - shortly after which she leaves on her date with a “French model,” a hard-core nerd who managed to greet her with “Bone-Jewer.” 😃