The Dangerous Reason Why Not to Drink Cold Water on a Hot Day
A young man, Adam Schaub, learned the hard way why you should not drink cold water on a hot day. He was working outside on a very hot day when his dad noticed that Adam was flushed. Adam went to cool off in his truck’s air conditioning and drink some cold water, but the next thing he knew, he had passed out.
He shared his story on Facebook (below) and lots of people confirmed that what had happened to him was directly related to drinking the very cold water after overheating! Read Adam’s story below and share with someone you know who works outside so this does not happen to them!
From Adam’s Facebook page:
PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT:
So we have all heard not to drink really cold water in the heat, but a lot of us have not heard the why or experienced it first hand. Cold water is good, so how could it be bad? Well, yesterday I found out. We were out working in 100° weather (not a good idea in itself) when my dad noticed my face was getting pretty red and suggested that I take a break. I immediately grabbed a cold bottle of water and drank it. After he did a little more work he suggested that I get in the truck and blast the a.c.. in the truck I drank some more cold water (another bottle) and very shortly started feeling strange. I started seeing spots, my stomach got extremely nauseous and my hands and feet started tingling. I felt like I was going to throw up so I opened the truck door and the next thing I know I’m face-first in the ground and my dad’s rolling me over and wiping off my face. He said my eyes had rolled back a bit and I did not come to for a few minutes. Emt arrived and asked what was going on. Immediately the guy knew what happened. Apparently, if you are too hot and chug a bottle of cold water, it Can send your body into shock. It thinks that the stomach is going hypothermic and so it takes the warm blood and sends it to the stomach. You can lose consciousness. He said cold water is good, but only in sips. Room temperature water is better if you need fast rehydration. Just figured I would share in case anyone could benefit from my mishap. Summer’s just around the corner. Stay cool. Feel free to share if you think it could help someone. I wish I had learned this a long time ago.
Edit: disclaimer I’m not a Dr so please do not take my experience or what I was told as a reason not to talk to your own doctor. Do not take my personal experience as advice.
In case it was not clear enough, drinking water throughout the day and staying hydrated is very important. If you mess up though, like I did, do not make the same mistake as me.
In addition to the risk of putting one’s body in shock if you drink cold water on a hot day, (like what happened to Adam) some say that ice cold water is bad for your digestion and they maintain that drinking room temperature water with your meals is recommended. Water has many benefits, and a lot of us do not drink nearly enough of it. But it’