Does drinking ice water burn calories? A link inside...

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  • Quote: Let me tell you something, chickies...

    I didn't become obese by drinking warm water.

    OK? 'Nuff said.

    Jay
    And I surely didn't get to my goal weight by simply making the switch to drinking ice cold water.

    Jay, you nearly made me spit my room temperature water when I read that.
  • OTOH, to be the Devil's Advocate, I have seen many a post about how an extra 50 or 100 calories a day really count, because they add up. I personally think it's more important to realize what you can stick with than what burns/avoids a few calories. Repeatedly falling off track is more expensive in the long term. But, it's interesting how some 50 calories count and other 50 calories are considered trivial.
  • Quite frankly, I see SO many posts here at 3FC where the first thing the poster says they're going to do is start drinking more water as if that's the reason they're overweight. And let's face it, that's just not the case. Certainly ANY (& every) healthy habit added is a good one and should be commended, applauded and celebrated. But like Jay made VERY light of, for the most part - water consumption, too much, too little, wrong temp - shouldn't be the MAIN and solitary strategy when trying to lose weight.

    Don't get me wrong, I'm all for burning an extra calorie or 2 or 50! I certainly think it was an interesting article. I'd heard about it in the past and this article explained it really well. I love information and I'm sure lots of people enjoyed the article - myself included.

    Quote:
    I personally think it's more important to realize what you can stick with than what burns/avoids a few calories. Repeatedly falling off track is more expensive in the long term.
    Agreed.
  • Oh, drinking cold water does burn some calories because it gets heated up inside the body. But, the values in the article are estimated and calculated--that is, no one actually measured how many calories are burned by drinking 8 glasses of ice water in a day. It may depend on lots of individual factors--how big the person is, how fast they drink the water, what the temperature of the room is...

    As for whether 50 calories count--of course they do. But most calorie values for foods are based on the set conditions of testing and are averaged out over many tests. One could easily be off by 50 calories either way in the course of a whole day, just because of normal variations in foods, amounts, etc. For example, FitDay says that an egg has 75 calories. Does this egg I have in my hand have exactly 75 calories? Probably not. To test it, I'd have to destroy the egg, and then I'd have to eat a different egg...

    So, I accept that an egg has 75 calories and figure that it all evens out over time! Nutrition isn't an exact science, but we can come close enough for our purposes.

    I say, drink ice water if you like, but stay away from McDonalds!

    Jay
  • After using a go wear fit for a while, I no longer believe ANY of those little things that are supposed to raise your calories burned.
    For me, my calories drop down to my regular burn rate immediately after exercise; my burn rate also stays the same before, during, and after I eat. I'm actually a huge fan of ice, and no, I have seen no increase in weightloss, or my burn rate, (not even a little )
  • Something easy that helps burn calories! Thanks for sharing!
  • Quote: But like Jay made VERY light of, for the most part - water consumption, too much, too little, wrong temp - shouldn't be the MAIN and solitary strategy when trying to lose weight.
    Yup. And luckily, no one even hinted at doing that.
  • Quote: Oh, drinking cold water does burn some calories because it gets heated up inside the body. But, the values in the article are estimated and calculated--that is, no one actually measured how many calories are burned by drinking 8 glasses of ice water in a day. It may depend on lots of individual factors--how big the person is, how fast they drink the water, what the temperature of the room is...
    In a college human biology course (in 1985), our professor lectured on this, and negative calorie foods. If you adjust for the temperature's affect on metabolism, there are absolutely no zero calorie foods (even celery) and a pitcher of ice water (I don't remember if he used a 1 quart or 2 quart pitcher) has a whopping maximum impact of about one negative calorie.

    The article's math is wrong, because it doesn't calculate in the effects of the ice water on the body's metabolism. It assumes that metabolism will stay constant during this process - and also assumes that the person's body temperature is remaining constant.

    If one would use this flawed math, hot (temperature) foods and beverages would always have more calories than cold - BUT that's a bit like saying you will use less energy/electricity in the summer by using your air conditioner. Electric bills tell a different story. We use energy (burn calories) to cool our bodies as well.

    The temperature inside our bodies and the temperature outside our bodies play a role here. If the external temperature is so hot that our bodies are working hard to keep us cool, ice water can make the job easier (would perhaps would result in burning fewer calories). Likewise, if the external temperature is cold enough that are bodies have to work to keep us warm, hot beverages would assist that (and might result in burning fewer calories). But even that is assuming that the "furnace" is not affected by the fuel that is being used (which is not the case).

    Changing the temperature in the body can affect metabolism (the rate at which we burn fuel), and drinking cold beverages can lower body temperature. Some people have more efficient systems than others at maintaining a consistent body temperature, so this is going to affect different people to different degrees. It takes fewer calories to maintain a lower body temperature (fewer calories to heat and fewer calories to cool), and the temperature of foods/beverages can affect body temperature (at least temporarily).

    There are also other processes in the body (all of which burn calories) that can be altered by our intake (both the quality and the quantity of the fuel), so some foods or beverages (or temperatures of each) can affect how many calories are burned by the cumulative effects of all those processes.
  • Quote: Yup. And luckily, no one even hinted at doing that.
    Luckily.
  • Well. I don't know about y'all, but I'm off to have a huge bag of Doritos and 54 glasses of ice cold water...I figure it'll even itself out...

    Kira
  • Quote: Luckily.
    Sorry if I misled, poor choice of words - I don't really think had anything to do with luck YMMV
  • hmm.. I don't like ice cold water. Not easy on my tummy.
  • jendiet, me either. I get so many weird looks for asking for only a little bit of ice, or room temp water. Although, I like to eat ice.
  • Very weird with me. Back in my morbidly obese days and probably for the first year or so after switching to a healthy diet, I was a HUGE water drinker. And it had to be ice cold. I even kept my water pitcher in the freezer.

    And this past year it's been an effort on my part to drink water. And for sure drinking it ice cold is out of the question. The only way I can get it down is if it's room temperature. Very strange switch for me.
  • I'm all about green tea. If you brew your own, and drink 3-5 cup a day, you will naturally burn 80 extra calories a day. I chill mine in the fridge and drink it throughout the day.