Recently, the issue of drinking hot water has begun to be discussed again on the Internet. The reason seems to be that a Western doctor said that only Chinese people in the world drink hot water, while other countries drink cold water, even ice water, so the Chinese practice is unscientific, and drinking hot water does not have any benefits.
As a result, this article became popular, and many people talked about it. Some people said that we are the only ones in this world who drink hot water! It turns out that foreigners drink ice water every day, and there is no problem! This is all caused by traditional Chinese medicine, which tells us to drink hot water.
Another part of people said that it is true that you can’t drink ice water. I use myself as an example. My stomach or stomach hurts when I drink ice water, or some people say that my menstruation stops when I drink ice water.
I read the comments carefully, and the ratio of support and opposition is roughly the same. Indeed, a small number of people left a message saying that they drank ice water and nothing happened. There are also more people, especially women, leaving messages saying that drinking ice water will cause abdominal pain and diarrhea, and even menstrual changes.
I look at this issue from an objective standpoint. In my opinion, it is necessary to explain why some people drink ice water but feel normal physically, and explain why some people drink ice water and have problems. We are not arguing for the sake of debate. It is to explain this phenomenon clearly.
First of all, I want to tell you that in ancient China, both hot water and normal temperature water (that is, what we call cold water) were drunk, because in "Mencius", there is such a saying: "Drink water in winter." Soup, drink water in summer", the ancient "soup" means hot water, for example, there is Xiaotangshan Hot Spring in Beijing, and Tanggangzi Hot Spring in Liaoning, this soup is hot water.
The "water" in "Summer is drinking water" in "Mencius" means ordinary cold water. This means that it is a normal habit of people to drink hot water in winter and cold water in summer.
It can be seen that in that era, in order to keep the body warm in winter, people would drink hot water (this is the same as now), and in summer, in order to cool down, they would drink water at normal temperature (we call cold water, because at that time ice water is hard to come by).
There are many examples like this. For example, in the courts of the Qing Dynasty, ice cubes were collected in winter and stored underground. When the weather was hot, they could be used to chill beverages and make cold drinks.
In fact, this kind of ancient cold drink originated relatively early. For example, "Tokyo Menghualu" records in the Song Dynasty. The cold drinks sold in the market at that time included "ice and snow licorice soup", "ice and snow cold Yuanzi", "shengyan "Water Papaya", "Cold Water Lychee Paste" and so on. "Meng Liang Lu" records that there were also cold drinks on the streets of Hangzhou in the Southern Song Dynasty: "Snow Soaked Bean Water", "Snow Soaked Plum Blossom Wine" and so on.
People at that time were already very good at storing ice. Every year in the twelfth lunar month, when the river freezes, people chisel out the ice and transport it to an underground ice cellar specially for storing ice. It is tightly sealed and used again in summer.
In the "Song Hui Yao Collection", it is also recorded that the "refrigerator" in the Song Dynasty was called Bingjian, which was a food storage container with ice cubes in the interlayer. It was barrel-shaped and could preserve food and cool the room.
In fact, if you push forward, the ice mirror actually existed in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods, and it was a bronze ware, so we can imagine that the nobles back then could eat ice water in summer.
So, does this mean that the Chinese also drink ice water, just like people all over the world?
No, the Chinese discovered the problem of drinking ice water very early on.
For example, in "Song History", it is recorded that Emperor Xiaozong of the Southern Song Dynasty said:
"I drank too much ice water before, and suddenly fell violently. Fortunately, I recovered."
Meaning, I drank too much ice water the other day and ended up suffering from severe diarrhea, thankfully I'm cured now.
The emperor's problem may be caused by many reasons, such as unhygienic drinking water, not boiled, polluted, and diarrhea. In addition, it is the cold qi that hurts the yang qi, causing cold and dampness, and diarrhea.
Therefore, in the Song Dynasty, Chen Zhi wrote "The Book of Retirement to Parents", which is the earliest medical book on health care for the elderly in the world. He said:
"The moon in midsummer is the most difficult to cure. The yin qi stays inside, the heat poison evaporates outside, the mind is in the wind, and the willful food is cold, so many people suffer from violent venting."
Later, in the Yuan Dynasty, this book was added as "New Book of Shou Qin Pension", which said:
"Bringing the heat in the heat, burning in the abdomen, sweating all over the body, thirsty in the heart, suddenly encountering ice and snow, drinking as much as possible, sleeping in the cold, stagnant for a long time, and dysentery if there is no malaria in autumn."
It can be seen that it is human nature to drink cold water or even ice water in summer, and it has been the same for Chinese people since ancient times. However, ancient Chinese doctors have observed the problem of drinking cold drinks very early. The ancients believed that in summer, Yang Qi is outside and Yin Qi is inside. If this description is changed to today's words, it means that it is hot outside in summer, and the surface of the body will also be affected. In order to achieve balance and maintain a stable body temperature, the human body will adjust in the opposite direction internally to maintain a relatively low temperature (actually It is a stable temperature, relative to the external low temperature). At this time, if the internal temperature is lowered artificially, it will lead to the disorder of body regulation.
This disorder, first of all, is the disorder of the digestive system. At too low temperature, the mucous membrane of the digestive system will change accordingly, becoming pale, insufficient in congestion, and low in metabolism. At this time, it is very easy to cause the invasion of external evils.
We can also say that in the same environment of exogenous evils, such as eating slightly unclean food, the temperature in the stomach and intestines is normal, because the function is normal, there is no problem, but after eating cold drinks, the temperature in the stomach and intestines is very low , the function is relatively weak, it is prone to problems.
Therefore, in summer, there are a lot of patients with gastrointestinal infections. On the one hand, food is easy to spoil in summer;
So, why do some people say that drinking cold drinks has no physical problems, and some people have obvious reactions?
I think this has a physical problem. For example, if a person has yin deficiency and fire, or if the yang energy is still strong, there will be no problem drinking cold drinks for the time being. However, if the yang energy is insufficient and the cold dampness is already heavy, drinking Cold drinks, of course, immediately cause problems.
So, what is my point?
In my opinion, it is best to drink warm water in winter. In summer, it depends on your own constitution. Those with strong yang energy can drink normal temperature water, but those with weak yang energy should absolutely not.
As for cold drinks, no matter who you are, you'd better not eat them. If it's not humane, then you can try it, but don't think it's good if you just taste it.
In any case, it is best if you can drink hot tea.
Modern people, who exercise less, consume too much, and have insufficient yang energy. In fact, there are probably many more people who are not suitable for drinking cold water than the ancients.
Some people say, I eat iced drinks every day, but my health is fine, so you can do whatever you like! In fact, I think that you are still young, so dare you say that my body will be fine in the future?
I have seen such an old smoker, saying that I have nothing to do when I smoke, and I am in good health. Who said smoking is harmful? As a result, when any disease is found out, quit smoking immediately, without exception.
Although the two examples cannot be compared, what I am talking about is a logical relationship. Physical disorders are accumulated, and when the amount changes, you will not see much impact. However, when you see a qualitative change, it is often too late.
A friend said: Then why don't foreigners drink hot water?
In fact, this is a lack of understanding of foreigners. I live abroad these days. I have observed foreigners carefully and found that this statement is a misunderstanding.
For example, there are many coffee shops in foreign countries. It is a habit for them to drink coffee. Let me ask you a question, do you think coffee is served iced? In fact, at this time, what they drink is also hot water, but they are used to turning hot water into drinks.
For example, is British tea served with ice cubes? No, it is also steaming hot, which is also hot water.
Another example is the Western food eaten by foreigners. You have to drink soup first. Do you think this soup is served with ice cubes? No, the mushroom soup and the vegetable soup are all hot. This is also hot water.
My observation is that in the lives of foreigners, there are also a lot of hot drinks, but we just don't pay attention.
And they also drink ice water, although at breakfast, the waiter will ask: coffee or tea? Most of them drink coffee, but some people also drink that iced juice. However, we need to understand the living habits of foreigners. They drink more alcohol and mainly eat beef. I also saw that when they ate bread that day, they spread butter and sprinkled black pepper on the bread. It's even more normal to use something like cinnamon powder as a seasoning. In daily life, they eat more hot food, so their physique is on the hot side. This kind of hot physique mainly eats meat, and drinking some ice water should not cause much damage.
However, there are still consequences. On the streets of foreign countries, you will see a large number of extremely obese people. That kind of obesity makes it difficult to move. Why? Why did they become like this?
In fact, I think that although foreigners do not have Chinese medicine, they are divided into two factions. One group pays more attention to the quality of life. They drink coffee decently in the morning, make English tea in the afternoon, eat green vegetables, and keep exercising. They are always in good health. The other group eats French fries and burgers, lies on the sofa watching TV, drinks iced Coke, and then becomes fat and panting when walking.
Cold phlegm stagnates, water and dampness accumulate, Qi and blood are blocked, and of course you will be extremely obese.
Of course, I made it into a cartoon, and it is not so absolute in reality, but it is true that this phenomenon does exist. What I want to say is: In fact, foreigners do not only drink ice water, but also have many opportunities to drink hot drinks in life. Not all foreigners are healthy, and there are many kinds of physical problems. Obama said: "We have spent the most expensive medical expenses in the world, but we have not extended the life expectancy of Americans by half a year." This also illustrates the problem.
As for the Koreans, if they drink spicy cabbage in spicy sauce every day, drink ginseng chicken soup, and drink some ice water, it can be regarded as a balance. However, Japanese people eat cold seafood and drink ice water. Therefore, people with allergies are extremely high. In spring, there are many people wearing masks. I don't think this is a good state.
It is estimated that the issue of drinking warm water or ice water will continue to be debated, and those who think that foreigners drink ice water will continue to learn. I just suggest to everyone that warm water is best, and room temperature is the worst. As for ice water, it’s just for a while. I really think there is no benefit.
I remember that when I was eating in the cafeteria of Beijing Tongren Hospital, a foreigner was sitting next to me, and he was talking in English to the Chinese doctor of western medicine opposite. People will also learn, and they will learn quickly about things that are good for their health.
