When I was in highschool, I had science teacher who made an interesting statement that has always stuck with me...im just wondering if its true. He said that by drinking a lot of ice cold water, ur body will use energy (burn calories) to warm it up to ur body temp. Thus going in cold..comming out warm. It makes sense...im just wondering how many calories do u think are burned in say 1 gallon of water. He also said that if a person was to sit in a pool of cold water, ur body would do the same...fighting to keep ur body temp up. Im wondering if this has actually been attemted as a way to burn some cals? ...and if what he said was true at all? I guess it does make sense but I wonder if anyone was actually crazy enough to sit in a tub of freezing water in hopes of losing some weight. :lol:

It helps, yes, but as to just how much, it's very minimal. Don't expect miraculous fat loss from drinking cold water.

~SC~

When I was in highschool, I had science teacher who made an interesting statement that has always stuck with me...im just wondering if its true. He said that by drinking a lot of ice cold water, ur body will use energy (burn calories) to warm it up to ur body temp. ..(snippy). :lol:

I read just yesterday while researching creatine that you would burn 160 calories from drinking what was maybe a quart of "ice cold" water. I sort of chuckled.

It made me think about what people say about eating snow for water. "It uses more calories to process the snow than it helps for for the situation at hand."

Calories are "case sensitive".....

You can read more about your question here:

www.howstuffworks.com/question447.htm

Drink that ice cold water!! :claphigh:

I read just yesterday while researching creatine that you would burn 160 calories from drinking what was maybe a quart of "ice cold" water. I sort of chuckled.

It made me think about what people say about eating snow for water. "It uses more calories to process the snow than it helps for for the situation at hand."

Calories are "case sensitive".....

You can read more about your question here:

www.howstuffworks.com/question447.htm

Drink that ice cold water!! :claphigh:

Great article.....maybe ill spend some extra time by the water cooler at work today...maybe even do some cooler stands...(I knew my college years would pay off eventually) :tucool:

Engineering dweeb here. Somebody check my math/conversions when I'm done.

This applies the concept of SPECIFIC HEAT. It's defined and measured by the number of calories (scientific) required to raise 1 gm of material by one degree centigrade. Let me preface this by saying that I'm not positive if "calorie" as it is used scientifically equates to "calories" in the sense that we often discuss them here. I think the conversion of a "calorie" as we call it is actually 1,000 scientific calories. So 1 "calorie" as we know it is actually 1,000 calories scientifically speaking.

With that said...

One calorie will heat 1 gm of water 1°C. Therefore, 1 kcal will heat 1 kg of water by 1°C. Using all sorts of conversions I won't bore you with, it takes 4.53 kcal's to warm 1 gallon of water 1°C. Tap water is about 77°F this time of year here in Florida. So, to warm tap water from 77°F to 98.6°F would require about 54.4 kcal's of heat energy. Warming water that's cold (5°C or 41°F) to your body temperature would eat up 145 kcal's.

Since we drink water in much smaller quantities (I drink it 16-ozs at a time), it requires 18.1 calories to warm 16 ozs. of cold (again, 41°F) water to body temperature.

Again, somebody check my math...

Oh crap... while I was doing the conversions, you guys posted that article. It seems my math was good... they say 17 calories, I said 18.1 cal's...

When I was pregnant, I was in China. Drinking cold water was frowned apon, especially for pregnant women.

The Chinese people I spoke to NEVER drink cold water. Now I wish I could remember why. :confused:

When I was pregnant, I was in China. Drinking cold water was frowned apon, especially for pregnant women.

The Chinese people I spoke to NEVER drink cold water. Now I wish I could remember why. :confused:

Many Chinese people still believe that cold water causes diarrhea. Others believe that cold water is simply bad for your health. Local Chinese drink almost hot water year round. After hundreds of years of drinking warm water, most Chinese simply don't like to drink cold water. Here is a nice little explanation of what might contribute to this idea.

www.bradf.com/mt/archives/000737.htm

One guy said he no longer drinks cold water because it "makes him colder"..... hehe :rolleyes:

My girlfriend is Chinese, and she never eats or drinks anything ice cold. She says it upsets her stomach. She'll always leave the milk out of the fridge for a while before drinking it, always order soft drinks without ice cubes in restaurants and always heat up water in a water heater before drinking. She still has a hard time resisting the occasional ice cream though ;)

If you intend to sit in ice water to lose weight, initially it may cause some minor help in weight loss through burning calories. However, if you keep this up for an extended period of time your body will assimilate and adapt itself to deal with the regular doses of sitting in cold water...which would be to add additional layers of fat to insulate...therefore, it would become counter-productive. Sitting in cold water seems like it could be a bit of an extrem approach to fat loss any way though, as you could spend just as much time doing some type of excersize that would not only burn calories, but build strength and stamina. There is no easy way out to getting in shape.

If you intend to sit in ice water to lose weight, initially it may cause some minor help in weight loss through burning calories. However, if you keep this up for an extended period of time your body will assimilate and adapt itself to deal with the regular doses of sitting in cold water...which would be to add additional layers of fat to insulate...therefore, it would become counter-productive. Sitting in cold water seems like it could be a bit of an extrem approach to fat loss any way though, as you could spend just as much time doing some type of excersize that would not only burn calories, but build strength and stamina. There is no easy way out to getting in shape.

By no means do I plan to sit in ice water... my question was..

"Im wondering if this has actually been attemted as a way to burn some cals? ...and if what he said was true at all? I guess it does make sense but I wonder if anyone was actually crazy enough to sit in a tub of freezing water in hopes of losing some weight. "

Ok, how about exercising in ice cold water? Jump in and swim some laps? :D

I was only curious about calorie expenditure in cold water ingestion. Sitting in cold water seems... silly? Unless it's July in Florida...

Ok, how about exercising in ice cold water? Jump in and swim some laps? :D

I was only curious about calorie expenditure in cold water ingestion. Sitting in cold water seems... silly? Unless it's July in Florida...


How about swimming in ice cold water and drinking it at the same time...maybe even while on a fat burner?:drool: :lol:

I know you did not PLAN to sit in the cold water...I was just taking it to the furthest extreme in regards to whether or not anyone had tried that...I like the idea of drinking cold water, while in cold water on a fat burner!! You should patent the idea and get an infomercial!! :D

I know you did not PLAN to sit in the cold water...I was just taking it to the furthest extreme in regards to whether or not anyone had tried that...I like the idea of drinking cold water, while in cold water on a fat burner!! You should patent the idea and get an infomercial!! :D


AHHHHHHHh.... :tu: THE ICE-o-TANK 2000.....burn 2000 calories while sitting in 2000 gallons of water...I can see it now...I better go call Tony Little!!

By no means do I plan to sit in ice water... my question was..

"Im wondering if this has actually been attemted as a way to burn some cals? ...and if what he said was true at all? "

Yes, you do burn calories to warm the body or to warm cold liquids taken into the body. It has been suggested people should wear as few clothes as possible in winter and to exercise with air conditioning set at lower temperatures.

If you drink a gallon of ice water a day, you would burn an extra 123 calories a day or 3690 a month. That is equal to the amount to lose one pound or that expended by walking 27.5 miles at 3mph.

It adds up, so stay cool.

RTE