Drinking water is vital to your good health; with too little water the human body cannot work properly and will become dehydrated. If you continue not to drink water or drink insufficient water you will get more dehydrated and could even fall into a coma and eventually die.
The question that many individuals continuously ask is whether drinking cold water is better than just drinking tap water. According to a study published in British publication The Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition as well as a study done at the American College of Sports Medicine, drinking ice water is best!
Why Drinking Cold Water is good for You
It is better to drink chilled water before or during exercise because:
- Absorption: Drinking water that is chilled is better because your body absorbs it quicker than room-temperature or body-temperature water. Chilled water will pass through your stomach much quicker and reach the intestines much faster; this means that the water is absorbed into the body far quicker. The quick absorption will aid you to rehydrate more speedily after losing a large amount of liquid during exercise.
- Temperature: Research conducted on 45 males during athletic training concluded that individuals that drank chilled water performed far better than those who drank plain tap water at room temperature. The rise in core body temperature was delayed by a minimum of 30 minutes, and this was found to decrease fatigue and heat-related stress.
- Taste: Chilled drinking water tastes better and appears to slake one’s thirst more, which makes one drink more water after exercise.
- The Cold Water Cancer Myth: The myth that drinking cold water after exercise will give one cancer is just that, a myth!
- Energy: Participants who took part in the British study were able to exercise for 25% longer than those who drank room-temperature water.
One of the easiest ways to ensure that you drink the best, purest, coolest drinking water is to invest in a water cooler. You have a choice between bottled water coolers and point-of-use or mains water coolers, which are plumbed into your main water supply.