# Exercise and water - some questions **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 10, 2011, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exercise-and-water-some-questions/588477 "2011-07-10T03:06:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![UncleFred](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f0a364/32.png) [@UncleFred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleFred)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2011, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exercise-and-water-some-questions/588477/61 "2011-07-13T21:15:19Z")
As a side note, way back in the mists of Straight-Dope-Antiquity (sorry, no link) someone proposed that drinking cold beer could help you lose weight. The theory being that your body had to expend calories to raise the temperature of the beer. That idea has been touched upon several times in this thread. I believe there were a couple digressions but the end result was that the “warm the cold fluid” effect was microscopic. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2011, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exercise-and-water-some-questions/588477/62 "2011-07-13T21:22:02Z")
> [@UncleFred](#): > > As a side note, way back in the mists of Straight-Dope-Antiquity (sorry, no link) someone proposed that drinking cold beer could help you lose weight. The theory being that your body had to expend calories to raise the temperature of the beer. > > That idea has been touched upon several times in this thread. I believe there were a couple digressions but the end result was that the “warm the cold fluid” effect was microscopic. [http://api.viglink.com/api/click?format=go&drKey=1259&loc=http%3A%2F%2Fboards.straightdope.com%2Fsdmb%2Fshowthread.php%3Fp%3D14018728%23post14018728&v=1&libid=1310591965957&out=http%3A%2F%2Fjcem.endojournals.org%2Fcgi%2Fcontent%2Ffull%2F88%2F12%2F6015&ref=http%3A%2F%2Fboards.straightdope.com%2Fsdmb%2Fsearch.php%3Fsearchid%3D6804695%26pp%3D25%26page%3D4&title=Exercise%20and%20water%20-%20some%20questions%20-%20Page%202%20-%20Straight%20Dope%20Message%20Board&txt=http%3A%2F%2Fjcem.endojournals.org%2Fcgi%2Fcon...ull%2F88%2F12%2F6015](http://api.viglink.com/api/click?format=go&drKey=1259&loc=http%3A%2F%2Fboards.straightdope.com%2Fsdmb%2Fshowthread.php%3Fp%3D14018728%23post14018728&v=1&libid=1310591965957&out=http%3A%2F%2Fjcem.endojournals.org%2Fcgi%2Fcontent%2Ffull%2F88%2F12%2F6015&ref=http%3A%2F%2Fboards.straightdope.com%2Fsdmb%2Fsearch.php%3Fsearchid%3D6804695%26pp%3D25%26page%3D4&title=Exercise%20and%20water%20-%20some%20questions%20-%20Page%202%20-%20Straight%20Dope%20Message%20Board&txt=http%3A%2F%2Fjcem.endojournals.org%2Fcgi%2Fcon...ull%2F88%2F12%2F6015) Well, no one has yet produced any actual refutation of this study. There has been alot of indirect and theoretical arguments against this idea but this study clearly shows the thermogenic effects of drinking cold water. And it concludes that there is indeed benefit to including this aspect in one’s efforts to lose weight. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2011, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exercise-and-water-some-questions/588477/63 "2011-07-13T22:39:01Z")
[QUOTE=jamiemcgarry] Well, no one has yet produced any actual refutation of this study. … [/QUOTE] A valid comment and that was an interestiing cite. [The refutation.](http://jcem.endojournals.org/content/91/9/3598.full) > [@](#): > > A recent study reported that drinking 500 ml of water causes a 30% increase in metabolic rate. If verified, this previously unrecognized thermogenic property of water would have important implications for weight-loss programs. However, the concept of a thermogenic effect of water is controversial because other studies have found that water drinking does not increase energy expenditure. … > > … Drinking distilled water at room temperature did not increase energy expenditure. Cooling the water before drinking only stimulated a small thermogenic response, well below the theoretical energy cost of warming the water to body temperature. These results cast doubt on water as a thermogenic agent for the management of obesity. … > > … most of the energy required for warming the water to body temperature is more likely to be met by a reduction in body heat loss, probably by the peripheral vasoconstriction that occurs after water drinking … ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2011, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exercise-and-water-some-questions/588477/64 "2011-07-13T22:46:03Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > A valid comment and that was an interestiing cite. > > [The refutation.](http://jcem.endojournals.org/content/91/9/3598.full) This was all I asked for. Thank you. Like I said, I never considered myself an expert on the matter but with the seemingly contradicting data I’d seen, I was wishing for more than theoretical arguments to refute my original claim. And I’ve now been shown that refutation. So unless I can find another study reproducing the results of the first study, I consider the issue answered. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2011, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exercise-and-water-some-questions/588477/65 "2011-07-14T03:17:20Z")
Note that Potassium is very important also. Eat a bannana, drink coconut water or take a pill, but get more Potassium in there. Smartwater has some, so do some other drinks. Magnesium can help also. Another myth: _beer and caffienated drinks (colas, coffee) and not hydrating and in fact make it worse._ **False.** Now yes, a expresso or vodka maybe has this effect, but just ordinary coffee, beer, wine, cola- all are hydrating. Not as good as water, of course. But they will do the trick. ---
**Author:** ![horsetech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dec6dc/32.png) [@horsetech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/horsetech)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2011, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exercise-and-water-some-questions/588477/66 "2011-07-14T04:44:12Z")
A good thing to remember about potassium is that cells are high in potassium, so anything highly cellular - such as other fruits, vegetables, and meat - has potassium in it. Also, “lite salt” is 50/50 KCl and NaCl. Sweat is mostly NaCl and water, though, with much smaller losses of potassium and even less calcium and magnesium. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exercise-and-water-some-questions/588477.md?page=3)