Incredible Benefits of Drinking Hot Water for Your Overall Health

You must have often heard about the health benefits of drinking water. You also know that drinking hot water first thing in the morning or just before going to sleep is beneficial, don’t you? But how often do you drink hot water in the morning or before going to bed?

Regularly drinking hot water can give you a whole lot of benefits, including nourishment for your skin and hair, and it also takes care of your overall system.

How Does Drinking Hot Water Improve Your Health?

Drinking warm water on an empty stomach is a norm a lot of us follow. The ones who start their day by doing so swear by its benefits. Let us delve a little and learn more about its benefits.

1. Detoxes the Body

Drinking hot or warm water detoxifies the body and cleanses the system by flushing out foreign elements and toxins.

How it works

By drinking warm water, our body temperature increases and causes our body to sweat. The toxins in our body are then flushed out through the sweat, which cleanses the blood flow too.

2. Improved Digestion

Drinking hot water in the morning aids in digestion. It cures bloating, acidity, and gas.

How it works

Hot or warm water helps break down food more quickly than cold water. Therefore, drinking warm or hot water before or after a meal makes digestion easy and quick.

3. Improved Bowel Movement

A glass or two of hot water on an empty stomach aids in effective bowel movement and prevents constipation.

How it works

Drinking hot water first thing in the morning helps in dissolving fat and food particles. This helps the food to pass easily through the intestine and eliminate all types of digestion problems. You can also drink it before each meal and throughout the day as well.

4. Improved Blood Circulation

The intake of hot water helps improve and stimulate easy blood circulation in the body. Proper blood circulation helps in carrying essential nutrients and oxygen to all the organs of the body smoothly.

How it works

Regular intake of hot or warm water helps in dissolving the fat that accumulates in the nervous system and also purifies the blood from toxins, thereby improving blood circulation. Moreover, the heat of the water expands the arteries and veins making more space for the blood to flow.

5. Skin Care

It slows down the process of the skin ageing and clears acne and blemishes.

How it works

When hot water gets into the system (i.e. our body), it automatically cleanses it from within. This ‘cleaning on the inside’ helps rid the body of toxins. Drinking hot water also brings out sweat which clears the pores of the skin and prevents acne or any skin-related problems.

6. Promotes Fitness

Hot water consumption makes the body feel light and active. It enhances stamina, which in turn, makes you physically fit.

How it works

Toxins are to be blamed for poor skin and hair; they also cause fatigue which makes people lethargic. Thus, when you drink hot water regularly, it flushes out all the toxins from your system and helps your body function well.

7. Helps with Weight Loss

Regularly drinking hot water helps you lose weight.

How it works

When hot water goes into our body, it burns off calories by increasing the metabolic rate. Drinking hot water before a meal also suppresses hunger and makes you eat less. Drinking hot water mixed with the juice of a lemon on an empty stomach helps dissolve fat, resulting in weight loss.

8. Provides Pain Relief

Just like pressing a warm compress against an injury or dipping your feet in warm water gives you relief from aches and pain, in the same way, drinking hot water can ease rheumatic and arthritic pain.

How it works

Since aches and pains usually occur due to poor blood circulation in the body, drinking hot water can help overcome the problem by removing toxins from the blood, which improves the blood flow.

9. Provides Nasal Relief

Drinking hot water helps in clearing nasal and throat congestion.

How it works

While drinking hot water, you take in vapour which clears the congestion in the nasal passage. Moreover, the warm water which you drink provides warmth to the mucous membranes and cures a sore throat.

10. Improves Hair Health

Drinking hot water prevents dry scalp, which, in turn, improves hair health.

How it works

The scalp gets hydrated and moisturised when you regularly drink hot water, and as a result, there is no or less formation of dead skin on the scalp. It also makes your hair shiny and lustrous, since hot water stimulates the nerves at the hair roots.

11. Alleviates Menstrual Pain

Using a warm compress in the abdomen and also drinking hot water at regular intervals provides relief during painful menstrual cramps.

How it works

The combination of the hot water compress against the abdomen and the heat of the water consumed within the body helps ease the pain by relaxing the abdominal muscles.

12. Eases Achalasia Pain

It helps to ease the symptoms of achalasia, a condition in which food does not go down smoothly into the stomach.

How it works

Since hot water helps in dissolving the food particles and fat, it helps people with achalasia to swallow and digest food better, especially oily food or meat.

Are There Any Skin-related Advantages of Drinking Warm Water?

People should drink at least 2 litres of water every day to keep their skin hydrated and healthy. But did you know that you can get better results if you drink hot water instead of normal room-temperature water? Consuming hot water provides the following benefits to the skin.

1. Cures Acne

It cures acne and all types of skin infections.

How it works

Drinking hot water makes you sweat, which opens up the skin’s pores. Poor digestive function is also a major reason for skin problems; therefore, when you drink hot water, it aids good bowel movement and healthy digestion, ridding your body of toxins.

2. Prevents Ageing

Drinking hot water regularly can prevent ageing of the skin and make your skin look radiant and young.

How it works

Hot water reduces or prevents the formation of dead cells. Dead cells make the skin look very rough and dull. Also, the bodily toxins which prove detrimental to the skin are flushed out by hot water through sweat, urine or faeces.

3. Prevents Skin Dryness

The skin becomes healthy and glows. It also stops the skin from turning dry and dull.

How it works

Hot water keeps the skin hydrated. Your blood circulation improves, as a result of which the skin becomes smooth and radiant.

4. Other Benefits

Drinking honey with warm water for skin does wonders. It revitalises immunity and prevents skin allergies.

How it works

Honey, which has anti-bacterial properties when mixed with warm water, prevents skin problems by fighting against free radicals. People prone to pollen allergy can increase their body’s resistance by taking local honey with warm water regularly.

How is Drinking Warm Water Beneficial for Hair?

Drinking warm water not only replenishes your skin but your hair too. Let us learn about its benefits.

1. Makes Hair Silky

It rejuvenates the hair and makes the hair smooth and soft.

How it works

The nerves at the tip of the hair root need to be strong to protect the hair from damages. This can be done by drinking warm water which nourishes the roots and makes the hair healthy, shiny and lustrous.

2. Promotes Hair Growth

Regularly drinking warm water aids hair growth and also prevents hair fall.

How it works

Each hair follicle is said to have some amount of water. When this is lost, the hair becomes dehydrated and stops growing. Drinking warm water prevents this condition by increasing the cells in the scalp and also promotes hair growth.

3. Prevents Dandruff

It also prevents dandruff and prevents the scalp from becoming dry and flaky due to dehydration.

How it works

When warm water gets into the system, it hydrates the hair and scalp and aids better blood circulation. This, in turn, aids in moisturising the scalp and prevents the scalp from getting dry and flaky. All you have to do is drink a minimum of 3 to 4 glasses of warm water every day and see dandruff disappearing from the scalp.

Are There Any Side-Effects of Drinking Hot Water?

As discussed in the above segments, drinking hot or warm water has numerous benefits when it comes to your health, skin and hair benefits. However, do you know that taking too much of it could prove to be detrimental as well? Listed below are some of the side-effects of drinking warm/hot water.

• If the water temperature is too hot, it can burn or scald your lips, tongue and mouth’s inner lining. This may cause pain due to blisters and mouth ulcers, which may prevent you from eating or drinking anything for days.

• When you drink hot or warm water in excess, the work of the kidneys to flush out the toxins from your body increase. This work overload on the kidneys proves to be detrimental.

• Drinking too much hot water can weaken the electrolytes in the blood. This may cause the brain cells to swell, and the person may experience severe headaches.

• Excess hot water consumption can make the tooth enamel erode. This causes sensitivity to the teeth while eating or drinking anything hot or cold.

• Hot water may be more contaminated than cold water since toxins dissolve more easily in hot water. Therefore, drink warm water which has been boiled well and then cooled down to lukewarm temperature.

• Intake of excess hot water may cause the blood volume to increase and since the veins that carry blood are within a closed circuit; it may cause pressure, which may, in turn, result in hypertension and heart problems.

• Hot water acts as a diuretic. It may urge you to urinate frequently or may be difficult for you to control your bowel movements, causing you much discomfort.

• Drinking too much of hot or warm water may cause you to sweat excessively, as a result of which you may experience uneasiness, dizziness and nausea.

FAQs

Some frequently asked questions related to drinking hot or warm water are as follows:

1. Is Drinking Hot Water Safe for Pregnant Women?

It is safe for pregnant women to drink warm or hot water. It prevents constipation, which is a common problem during pregnancy and keeps your skin moisturised and radiant. During pregnancy, it is important to keep your body well-hydrated, which consumption of warm water does. However, to avoid complications, like blisters and scalds in your tongue and mouth, pregnant women should avoid very hot water. Over-consumption of hot water should also be avoided to keep away from headaches, bloating, dizziness, nausea and frequent urination.

2. When is the Best Time of the Day to Drink Hot Water?

There is no fixed time to drink warm or hot water. However, it is said that drinking 2 glasses of warm water first thing in the morning on an empty stomach, preferably with a dash of lemon and a tablespoon of honey can do wonders. Drink warm water before a meal and just before going to bed at night. Moreover, drinking tepid water (not hot) after a meal helps to break down the food particles and also helps dissolve the fat in case of oily food. People suffering from Achalasia should also drink warm water after a meal to push the food down the food pipe.

3. How Much Hot Water Should I Drink in a Day?

Drinking 2 glasses of hot water in the morning on an empty stomach is said to prevent a number of health issues like headaches, constipation, indigestion, kidney stones, hypertension, blood sugar etc. However, consuming 6 – 8 glasses of warm water daily are sufficient enough to keep the body, hair, and skin hydrated and get the overall health benefits.

If you are drinking hot water to lose weight, then some lemon and honey along with it can expedite your metabolic rate, resulting in rapid weight loss. Drinking warm water with lemon can also aid good digestion. However, it is advisable not to drink hot water after exercise since the body temperature is already high then.

Like everything, drinking hot water has its pros and cons. However, taking it in moderation is advisable to gain the benefits and avoid its drawbacks.

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