Why You Might Want To Drink Plain Hot Water

If you haven’t tried it (or perhaps have, and got out of the habit, or didn’t make a habit), Fumiko Takatsu presents some reasons why you might:

Some like it hot

This’ll be mainly anecdotal today, but things well-worth considering…

She says: it helps cleanse your system like hot water does with oily dishes, especially effective first thing in the morning before food..
We say: water in general allows the body’s system to self-clean, but the aspect of science here is that warm (or hot) water is much more easily absorbed than cold.

She says: she drinks a cup of hot water after brushing her teeth to feel clean and energized without needing coffee or tea.
We say: yes, morning hydration is great, and once again, warm/hot water will do that better than cold, plus, on an experiential level, if you enjoy the drink more (hot water can be considered more “entertaining” than cold), then it gets the dopamine flowing, which is a wakefulness-promoting hormone.

She says: drinking hot water before bed helps cleanse your system overnight and is less likely than cold water to make you wake up needing the bathroom.
We say: yes, again because of the absorption thing; it actually gets distributed better through all your body’s living cells, rather than just whooshing through the kidneys barely touching the sides (we exaggerate, but you get the idea) and directly into your bladder.

She says: she brings a thermos of hot water with her to restaurants or orders it after a meal instead of coffee or tea to feel clean, energized, and relaxed.
We say: this writer very rarely goes to restaurants, but has often taken hot water with her when going on a day-trip to the city for some reason; keeps me hydrated and adds comfort to my journey as well as health! I won’t lie; I go through phases of taking hot water or black coffee, but it’s always one or the other.

She says: adding lemon is fine during the day, but not before bed as lemon is acidic and may harm your tooth enamel—plain hot water is better at night!
We say: agreed! This writer often adds lemon in the morning or when cooking/eating (which also increases iron bioavailability from food), but in the evening, it’s hot water or spearmint tea (or sometimes one and then the other, if I’m feeling decadent, because I’m such a party girl like that).

In short: aside from anecdote and personal enthusiasm of the video creator and this writer, the main scientific takeaways today are twofold:

1. hot water (or even warm, but seriously, try hot if you haven’t; you might like it, and it is almost always good to try new things) is absorbed more easily than cold, and is thus more hydrating, and thus also less likely to just pass straight through you.
2. hot water does not have the drawbacks of a number of other hot drinks for being either acid, stimulant, calorific, tooth-staining, or a combination of the above.

So, give it a try!

For more on much of this, enjoy:

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Want to learn more?

You might also like:

Things Many People Forget When It Comes To Hydration

Take care!