What are the benefits of drinking hot water? Well, the first thing to note is that it rather depends how hot! It might seem that any lower temperature really wouldn’t be that much different from drinking any other kind of water. For sure, the effects that any given water will have on your health is much more dependent on the chemical composition than it is on how hot the water is. There are many kinds of water out there, from purified to filtered and flavored to hydrogen water, and many of them are touted as health products with real benefits above and beyond what is offered by simple tap water.
However, these products all cost money. Hot water, on the other hand, can simply be tap water heated up in your kettle. Heating up water for the sole purpose of later drinking it is a process that has been around for as long as humans have been using fire. The reason for this is that when water is boiled, many of the contaminants and harmful microbes are killed off. You have probably heard of the camping trick of heating up suspect water in order to make it safe(er) to drink. The same principle more or less applies here.
Heating Up Water to Drink
Synergy Science, water product specialists, say that drinking hot water does indeed have myriad health benefits (which we will get onto in a moment). However, there is a typical way of going about the process. First of all, the water shouldn’t be so hot that it burns your tongue or throat. Far from being good to drink, doing this can cause injury (of course) and, in the long term, can even cause more chronic conditions with your tongue and throat. Accordingly, you should always be careful that the water you have boiled or otherwise heated up has had time to cool down first. So much is obvious.
Hot water is also normally drunk just before bed. You can think of it as a type of bedtime hot beverage, and it is a terrific way to keep yourself hydrated throughout the night while not having the invigorating effects of drinking cold water (which might make you feel more alert and therefore negatively affect your ability to get to sleep).
Benefits of Drinking Hot Water
So, what are these benefits of drinking hot water? Here follows some of the most often reported:
Relieves Nasal Congestion
Not only will hot water soothe the mucous membranes of your throat and mouth, but the steam it gives off is also great for nasal congestion, unclogging the sinuses and helping with sinus headaches if you have one.
Relaxes the Central Nervous System
Drinking hot water can simply calm you and tends to relive muscle tension. This is great if you regularly wake up with aches and pains. However, to see the most benefit from this, be sure to drink hot water regularly over a period of time.
Helps with Hydration
For this to work, you should drink a cup of hot water in the morning and one just before bed every day. The temperature of the water improves the absorption rate once it is in your stomach.
Helps with Digestion
For the same reason as above, hot water can also improve digestion. Nevertheless, for this to work you should drink it in the morning just before you eat anything and at night a good while after your last meal.
Ultimately, the composition of any water is slightly more important, but the temperature of the water you drink makes a surprising amount of difference.
