Summer is the peak season for cold drinks. Having a refreshing, icy cold drink on a hot day is a great pleasure, but you can't just eat or drink them indiscriminately, as it can harm your health. Can cold drinks really quench your thirst the most?
Most people think that drinking a glass of something icy will dispel summer heat. However, in reality, after drinking a cold beverage, the surfaces of the mouth, esophagus, and stomach cool down rapidly. Then, the walls of the capillaries in these areas constrict due to the lower temperature, which reduces blood flow. Consequently, the body's ability to absorb moisture is diminished, and water from within the body's cells is drawn into the interstitial spaces. This leads to the phenomenon of "the more you drink, the thirstier you become"!
Don't eat ice cream during meals to avoid indigestion.
In particular, when a person quickly drinks a glass of ice water or eats a large serving of ice cream, the temperature inside the stomach drops rapidly from 37°C to below 20°C. As a result, the stomach "contracts," much like a faulty car engine, and stops functioning! The stomach then ceases to peristalse, and the digestive function of the gastrointestinal tract comes to a halt. It takes about 30 minutes (or even longer) for the stomach to return to a warm state before its digestive function gradually returns to normal. Therefore, consuming frozen foods during a meal will delay the time it takes for food to move from the stomach to the small intestine, causing bloating and indigestion.
Stop drinking cold beverages for breakfast.
The human body always prefers a warm environment. When the body is warm, microcirculation is normal, and the transport of oxygen, nutrients, and waste proceeds smoothly.
Therefore, when eating breakfast, you must absolutely not start with vegetable juice, iced coffee, iced juice, iced black tea, mung bean soup, iced milk, etc. You might not feel any discomfort in the short term, but in fact, it will gradually weaken your body. Why is this?
You should eat "hot food" for breakfast to protect your "stomach qi" (wei qi). In Traditional Chinese Medicine, stomach qi is a broad concept that doesn't simply refer to the stomach organ itself. It includes the digestive and absorption capabilities of the spleen and stomach, acquired immunity, and the function of the muscles.
This is because in the morning, the yin energy from the night has not yet dissipated, and the temperature of the earth has not yet risen. The body's muscles, nerves, and blood vessels are still in a state of contraction. If you consume cold food and drinks at this time, it will inevitably cause all the body's systems to constrict even more and disrupt blood flow.