Morning Drinking of Five Types of Water Harms Health
Drinking water is the process by which living organisms ingest water through the mouth to replenish intracellular fluid, an important part of the organism's metabolism, and also one of the ways to supplement trace elements for living organisms and plants.
Iced Water
Many people like to drink a glass of iced water upon waking, especially in the summer. In fact, this is very unscientific. Drinking iced water can easily cause gastric mucosal blood vessels to constrict, affecting digestion and irritating the gastrointestinal tract, which can speed up gastrointestinal motility, and even cause intestinal spasms, leading to abdominal pain and diarrhea. For a healthy person, drinking iced water, especially sweetened beverages on an empty stomach, can easily trigger stomach problems.
In addition, iced water first stimulates the throat, and blood vessels in a congested state will suddenly constrict, reducing blood flow. Bacteria lurking here can take advantage of this, which may lead to a sore throat, hoarseness, or a cold and cough, adversely affecting health. Excessive consumption of iced water in the morning can also affect the development and physiological function of the reproductive system. For some young girls, regardless of whether they are menstruating, indiscriminately drinking iced water or cold beverages can cause menstrual irregularities and dysmenorrhea. The accumulation of cold energy in the uterus can even lay the groundwork for infertility after marriage.
Excessive consumption of iced water by boys can also affect sperm development. Furthermore, iced water can also harm the throat, vocal cords, and respiratory system.
Beverages
The first glass of water in the morning should preferably not be commercial juices, colas, sodas, coffee, milk, or other beverages. Most carbonated drinks like sodas and colas contain citric acid, which accelerates the excretion of calcium during metabolism, reducing the calcium content in the blood. Long-term consumption can lead to calcium deficiency. Other beverages have a diuretic effect; drinking them in the morning not only fails to effectively replenish the body's needed water but also increases the body's demand for water, leading to dehydration instead.
Fruit juices, milk, and coffee are also not suitable as the first drink in the morning because these substances cannot provide the water the body needs most at that time. They also force the gastrointestinal tract to perform digestion and absorption in a state of dehydration, which is not good for health.
Salt Water
Some people believe that drinking light salt water is beneficial to health, so they drink it upon waking. This understanding is indeed wrong. It is true that drinking light salt water is beneficial for health, which is necessary for replenishing fluids after sweating in the summer. However, for replenishing fluids in the morning, it is not only useless but also a harmful practice that endangers health.
Physiological research suggests that during a full night's sleep, a person does not drink a drop of water, yet breathing, sweating, and urination are ongoing. These physiological activities consume and lose a lot of water. Upon waking in the morning, the blood is in a concentrated state. At this time, drinking a certain amount of plain water can quickly dilute the blood, correcting the hyperosmolar dehydration of the night. Drinking salt water instead will worsen the hyperosmolar dehydration, making one feel even more thirsty. Moreover, morning is the first peak of elevated blood pressure in the human body. Drinking salt water will make blood pressure even higher, endangering health.
Stale Boiled Water
After boiled water has been left for a long time, the nitrogen-containing organic matter in it will continuously decompose into nitrites. Especially for boiled water that has been stored for too long, bacterial contamination is inevitable. At this time, the decomposition of nitrogen-containing organic matter accelerates, and more nitrites are produced. After drinking such water, nitrites combine with hemoglobin, affecting the oxygen transport function of the blood.
Therefore, the boiled water that has been in a thermos for many days, the residual water after multiple boilings, or water that has been boiling on a stove for a long time has already had its composition changed and should not be consumed. You should drink water that has been boiled once and is not more than 24 hours old.
In addition, various bottled or桶装 (barreled) purified water and mineral water should not be stored for too long. Large bottles or barrels of purified water and mineral water should not be consumed after 3 days.
Tap Water
Some people are used to turning on the tap in the morning and filling a glass with tap water to drink. This is incorrect. The tap water in a faucet and pipes that have been unused for a night is stagnant. This water and the metal pipe walls and faucet chambers will have a hydration reaction, forming metal-contaminated water. In addition, residual microorganisms in the tap water will multiply. This water contains a large amount of substances harmful to the human body and may also harbor an acute respiratory infectious pathogen that threatens human health—Legionella. Therefore, the tap water that flows out first in the morning is undrinkable stagnant water. So, people with this habit should correct it immediately to avoid harming their health.