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Top 10 Benefits of Drinking Hot Water

Team AckoDec 12, 2023

Have you noticed that after you drink water, you feel revived? Drinking enough water is essential to keep your body replenished and hydrated. Water makes up a large part of our body. Drinking water is excellent for your health in different ways. Water circulates nutrients and oxygen through the body and is an integral part of many processes that take place in your body.  So what are the benefits of drinking hot water? Hot water is known to be great for your health and the smooth functioning of your body. It can improve digestion, help you relax, and cleanse the toxins from your body.

It is said to be most beneficial when you drink it first thing in the morning or at night before sleeping. 

Let's look at the top 10 ways drinking hot water benefits you.

Benefits of Drinking Hot Water

Contents

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1. Helps With Healthy Digestion 

Drinking hot water helps you digest your food better. When you do not drink enough water, your small intestine absorbs most of the water you take in through eating and drinking. This makes your body become dehydrated and can affect your digestion.

Many processes in digestion require water. Water is essential in helping to digest specific food molecules like proteins. Drinking hot water helps your body break down food faster. It also promotes bowel movement. 

Acidity is another issue when acids in your stomach build up and cause a burning feeling in your digestive tract.

Acidity is often caused by digestive problems or lack of enough food. Irrespective of the reason, drinking hot water helps prevent acidity as it cushions your stomach and dilutes the acids that develop. It is most helpful to drink it about 30 minutes before a meal. 

2. Helps Detoxify the Body 

Hot water helps cleanse your body and remove toxins from it. It increases the internal temperature of your body, which improves your metabolism. This helps promote blood circulation and get rid of toxins from your body.

It can also induce your body to start sweating, which helps eliminate toxins. It also helps flush out toxins by inducing urine production in your body. It stimulates the movement of water through your body, so the kidneys filter it out, and the wastewater comes out in the urine. 

3. It Helps Improve Circulation

Water helps improve the circulation of blood through your body. Better circulation means that nutrients, vitamins, minerals, and oxygen are circulated better to different parts of your body.

This is another reason drinking water makes you feel revived and helps your body function better. It improves the blood flow within your body. 

4. Flushes Out Body Waste 

Hot water helps to keep your digestive organs functioning well, and it flushes out the waste produced from your body. This is why water plays such an essential role in digestive processes.

While the different digestive organs help break down the food and process the nutrients, water helps flush out the waste products of these metabolic processes. It is also helpful because it cleanses the small intestine by removing waste material that builds up there. 

5. Helps Relieve Symptoms of Cold and Cough

Drinking hot water can relieve cold, allergy, cough, and even headache symptoms. This is perhaps one of the most well-known benefits of drinking hot water. Hot water has a soothing effect on a sore or itchy throat.

It also helps decongest mucus and phlegm that block your nasal and breathing pathways. It breaks down the build-up of phlegm and warms up your body, which helps in decongestion and in reducing symptoms of a cold or flu.

6. Helps Reduce Blood Pressure

Consuming hot water can promote the process of vasodilation, where the blood vessels in your body dilate. This helps ease the flow of blood through your body and reduce blood pressure. It also promotes blood circulation by heating your body.

Promoting healthy blood flow improves your blood pressure and reduces your risk of heart disease.

7. Helps Prevent Constipation

Hot water can reduce constipation. Constipation can cause issues with bowel movements and make it painful. It often arises due to excess gas in the digestive tract that interferes with proper bowel movement.

Hardened bowels also cause it due to insufficient intake of water. This can lead to problems like hemorrhoids, inflammation, bleeding, and bloating. During digestion, if there is not enough water, or if the metabolic processes do not happen properly, it can lead to hard bowels.

Drinking hot water helps soften the bowel matter and also promotes bowel movement. It encourages healthy digestion, which enables the smooth passing of bowels. 

8. Can Fight Infections 

This is one of the compelling benefits of drinking hot water. Hot water can help fight infections, especially throat infections.

Adding a spoon of honey or squeezing some lemon into it can be an effective antibacterial remedy that combats throat infections. It also soothes symptoms like a sore or irritated throat, which helps reduce the probability of the sore throat or the allergy-irritated throat becoming infected. 

9. Can Reduce Stress

Drinking hot water can help reduce stress. Hot water helps improve the central nervous system function of your body. It makes you feel less stressed and calmer. It can also relax your body muscles.

A soothing glass of hot water is a great way to wind down and calm down when you are anxious and stressed. If you don't get enough hot water, it can affect your nervous system's functioning and nervous system processes.

This can affect your mood, thinking, and brain functioning. Drinking hot water can promote healthy nervous system activity. It also boosts brain activity and positive feelings. 

10. Helps Relieve Inflammation and Pain 

Hot water helps reduce and bring relief to symptoms of inflammation and pain. This is particularly the case for inflammation or pain in the joints and muscles of your body. It boosts blood circulation, which relaxes stiff joints and muscles. It also lubricates the joints and muscles.

Cartilage, found in joints, is primarily made up of water. Dehydration can reduce the ability of your joints to absorb shock. It can also make them less lubricated and more prone to pain, friction, and stiffness.

Drinking hot water can help alleviate these symptoms. It also makes the body relax and loosen up and reduces stress, as mentioned above. This further promotes muscle relaxation. 

Takeaways

Drinking hot water has multiple benefits for your body. These range from promoting blood circulation and healthy digestion to reducing stress and fighting infections. Given all the benefits of drinking hot water, it's a great idea to make sure you drink some hot water during your day. 

FAQs

What Are the Disadvantages of Drinking Hot Water?

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Hot water can cause injury to internal linings in the organs if it is above a healthy temperature. It can damage the epithelial cells that line organs. This is why it is essential to drink it at the right temperature. It can also damage the taste buds if it is too hot.

What Is the Optimum Temperature at Which You Should Drink Hot Water?

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The optimum temperature at which you should drink hot water is between 130 and 160°F or 54 and 71°C.

You can risk burning or scalding if you drink hot water at temperatures above this. You also risk causing damage to cells and linings in your body, as explained above.

When Should You Not Drink Hot Water or Avoid Drinking Hot Water?

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Drinking hot water can aggravate inflammation if any part of your mouth, throat or digestive tract is inflamed. This is because heat can worsen the symptoms of inflammation.

While warm water can soothe inflammation or irritation, hot water can make it worse. Hot water is mainly to be avoided if you have an ulcer like a mouth ulcer or stomach ulcer. It can worsen the ulcer and cause it to become more irritated and painful.

Can Drinking Hot Water Help Keep You Warm?

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Drinking hot water can bring warmth to your body. This is not just because of the temperature of the water but also because it promotes blood circulation and vasodilation and helps distribute heat to different parts of the body.

This helps in regulating temperature and alleviates sensations of feeling cold. It helps your body to maintain its temperature with less effort and can reduce shivering. This is one of the lesser-known benefits of drinking hot water.

References

  • https://www.healthspectra.com/benefits-of-drinking-hot-water/

  • https://www.healthline.com/health/benefits-of-drinking-hot-water

  • https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/290814

Disclaimer: The content on this page is generic and shared only for informational and explanatory purposes. It is based on several secondary sources on the internet. As this content piece is not vetted by a medical professional, please consult a doctor before making any health-related decisions.

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