Chinese believe drinking hot water makes for good health
By Jianyu Hou, freelancer based in Cleveland, OH. U.S.A.
Many Americans are beginning to take notice that their Chinese friends appear healthy and do not gain weight so quickly. According to one woman speaking to CNTV, she pointed out that her best friend stayed in Beijing for only one year and she lost 50lbs. She wondered if the Chinese would like to share any special tips on healthy living habits.
Well to answer the question, one must start to recognize the differences of life habits between the Chinese and Westerners. Perhaps, it's because the Chinese drink hot water while Westerners drink cold water instead.
According to traditional Chinese medicine books, the core idea of ancient medical practices is to maintain the harmony of human beings and nature. The more you follow a natural clock, the healthier you get.
Why is drinking hot water considered healthier? Traditional Chinese medicine explains that the normal internal body temperature is 37 degree Celsius, which keeps a smooth blood flow in tune with normal body functions. When drinking cold water, the internal body temperature gets interrupted.
The body must consume more energy to make up for a drop in temperature in order to maintain the regular operation of organs. If the body is too weak to warm up itself, some symptoms will appear, such as a contraction, indigestion, and thrombus.
Many Westerners do not recognize the benefits of drinking hot water. If you are from the West and have visited or lived in China, you will discover that Chinese restaurants serve hot water for customers while in contrast, Western restaurants offer iced water.
Although most Chinese consider themselves foodies (lovers of food), they still have high metabolism, which keeps them relatively thin even if they eat too much food. That's because they prefer to drink hot water for every meal, which helps digestive organs work more efficiently, preventing the stomach from holding food stagnation. Meanwhile, iced water causes the fat in food to get clogged in the stomach.
We can also attribute Chinese women's more youthful appearance to the habit of drinking hot water. Chinese women are taught to stay away from drinking and touching cold water during their menstrual cycles, since it will cause additional pain. Drinking hot water can warm up the ovaries, which is the main organ to produce female hormones. Female hormones help the body burn extra fat and keep them wearing their years lightly.
After menopause, due to a lack of female hormones, fat will accumulate at the waist and hips, which is called centripetal obesity, increasing the rate of heart disease, hypertension and stroke. Many Western women suffer from centripetal obesity after they get married or have children. That is a sign of weaker functioning ovaries, since there's less female hormones as before.
Now with such a better understanding on the health benefits of drinking hot water, it's time for Westerners to kick their cold water habits and warm up to hot water.
(This article was first published on Panview Channel, CCTV.com)
( The opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Panview or CCTV.com. )