Shouldn't Cold Water Technically Cause the Body to Burn Calories?

[SpunkySkunk347]

Since the definition of a calorie is "the energy needed to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water through 1 °C", and since you're doing, well, just that when you drink cold water and warm it up to body temperature lowering your body heat temporarily in the process, shouldn't you have to burn calories in doing that?
Your body has to compensate for that lost heat somehow; it's not like the body can "give off the cold" from the water like it does with heat.

So, is cold water actually a miracle weight-loss elixir? And do I win a Nobel price if it is?

If you literally had to warm up every last degree of the cold water through burning calories to replace what you've lost in body heat, then cold-water would seemingly be so effective at burning calories that it wouldn't just make you lose weight, but it should make you starve to death: drinking 1 kilogram of water that's 1 degree centigrade below body heat would cause you to burn 1,000 calories. That's just not what happens, so what am I missing? How does our body sneak that cold temperature out the side door? It'd presumably be best to use body heat on it way to being lost from the body anyways for heating the cold water, such as the warm air you exhale; but that couldn't be it, because the cold water is in your and hits you with the cold temperature right at your body's core almost.

Perhaps it could be quite the opposite effect: the drop in body temperature slows down bloodflow and your metabolic and cellular processes, causing you to spend less energy during that time until regaining body heat.

 

[Septonn]

cba to copy this text but this sorta covers it

http://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/diet-fitness/weight-loss/question447.htm

 

[flyhighk]

Since the definition of a calorie is "the energy needed to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water through 1 °C", and since you're doing, well, just that when you drink cold water and warm it up to body temperature lowering your body heat temporarily in the process, shouldn't you have to burn calories in doing that?
Your body has to compensate for that lost heat somehow; it's not like the body can "give off the cold" from the water like it does with heat.

So, is cold water actually a miracle weight-loss elixir? And do I win a Nobel price if it is?

If you literally had to warm up every last degree of the cold water through burning calories to replace what you've lost in body heat, then cold-water would seemingly be so effective at burning calories that it wouldn't just make you lose weight, but it should make you starve to death: drinking 1 kilogram of water that's 1 degree centigrade below body heat would cause you to burn 1,000 calories. That's just not what happens, so what am I missing? How does our body sneak that cold temperature out the side door? It'd presumably be best to use body heat on it way to being lost from the body anyways for heating the cold water, such as the warm air you exhale; but that couldn't be it, because the cold water is in your and hits you with the cold temperature right at your body's core almost.

Perhaps it could be quite the opposite effect: the drop in body temperature slows down bloodflow and your metabolic and cellular processes, causing you to spend less energy during that time until regaining body heat.

Yep, 1000 calories = 1 kcal = 1 "food calorie".

I actually thought about this long time ago. It should work but only if you drink large amounts of very cold water. You can cool your body using more effective ways (less layers of clothing, cold showers/baths, etc.)

 

[Foreigner]

Technically it does, but freezing your insides over and over again will also decrease your base metabolic rate over time as your digestive organs are constantly slowed by cold.

So in addition to calorie restriction, which starves organs, you're freezing them, which represents an opportunity cost.

To burn fat it's best to keep your BMR as high as possible by eating nutrient dense food that's warm. In most traditional societies, the idea of consuming cold things to lose weight would be lunacy. One's digestive organs should always be kept warm.

 

[tantric]

so its true that the body burns more energy when the ambient temp is lower? you could, in theory, lose weight by just staying cold?

 

[Trojan5851]

Never thought consuming cold foods or liquids would have long term adverse effects on metabolism. I would want to see some form of evidence to support this before believing it. Although I've heard that dieting can lower a metabolism. If that is true then perhaps metabolism can be adversely affected by cold water. I do know the body regulates temperature through homeostasis. Meaning it has its own thermostat. So while metabolism may be slowed down by cold water, it should be equally sped back up by the increase in temperature from burning calories. The higher amount of energy in a given system -- the faster chemical reactions take place. Then again if this were the case with metabolism, you would think overweight people should be burning tons of calories due to insulated heat? Unless their core body temp is low and is somehow related to the thyroid? Idk i dont know much about himan anatomy or biology

 

[Foreigner]

Never thought consuming cold foods or liquids would have long term adverse effects on metabolism. I would want to see some form of evidence to support this before believing it. Although I've heard that dieting can lower a metabolism. If that is true then perhaps metabolism can be adversely affected by cold water. I do know the body regulates temperature through homeostasis. Meaning it has its own thermostat. So while metabolism may be slowed down by cold water, it should be equally sped back up by the increase in temperature from burning calories. The higher amount of energy in a given system -- the faster chemical reactions take place. Then again if this were the case with metabolism, you would think overweight people should be burning tons of calories due to insulated heat? Unless their core body temp is low and is somehow related to the thyroid? Idk i dont know much about himan anatomy or biology

It's basic physiology. The human body is kept at a constant temp of 37C (more or less) because this is the temperature at which enzymes and biological reactions can take place. If too high, the enzymes break down. If too low, the body does not meet its metabolic requirements for long-term survival.

When it gets too hot, we sweat. When it gets too cold, we shiver. The body needs to maintain a temperature homeostasis for a reason.

If you eat cold food, all it does is cause malabsorption. Look at your stool after eating a series of cold meals vs. hot meals. Looser stool, undigested food, smellier stool (incomplete fermentation)... your evidence is all right there in the toilet. Cold causes vasoconstriction in the GI, which means less blood taking away nutrients from food. Enzymes also can't function as well at colder temps.

It's true that your body will use calories to warm up cold food, but it will also lose nutrition due to malabsorption. As the organs are deprived, their function declines. As their function declines, so does the BMR, over time. The #1 thing we look at when people have digestive problems (overweight or underweight) is how much cold food they're eating.

People need to stop associating weight loss with JUST calorie restriction. Yeah if you're eating 4,000 calories a day, maybe you should calm down. But if you're already consuming the normal range, then what you need to do is examine if your food is nutrient dense or not. You can cut your calories to 1,500/day but if it's empty carbs then what are you getting? Not to mention exercise.