Fact Check: Drinking warm water is not a one-stop solution for all health conditions

Hyderabad: A Facebook post claiming that drinking warm water can cure many diseases is being widely shared on social media.

The viral post claims that warm water cures constipation, weight loss, arthritis, diabetes, cough and cold.

Fact Check

NewsMeter found that the claim is false.

Can drinking warm water cure diseases?

No, according to Medical News Today, “Drinking hot water will not cure any diseases but, as long as the water is not scalding, the risks are minimal. So, people who already enjoy hot water or who want to try a simple method for improving their health should feel assured that they are benefitting from it.”

Drinking warm water might have several benefits:

- May relieve nasal congestion

- May aid digestion

- May improve central nervous system function

- May help relieve constipation

- Keeps you hydrated

- Reduces shivering in the cold

- Improves circulation

- May decrease stress levels

- May help the body’s detoxification systems

- May help relieve symptoms of achalasia

However preventing or curing any disease is not possible by just drinking warm water.

We further reached out to Dr S Vijay Mohan, MD, senior consultant physician, Care Hospitals, and the HoD for the Department of Internal Medicine, to debunk the claim.

“Absolutely wrong. The body needs a particular normal range of temperature of 97 to 99F degrees for our body’s normal daily metabolic activities to keep normal homeostasis in the body organs. We have a temperature regulating system in the hypothalamus in our brains which acts like a thermostat of our refrigerator. Irrespective of extreme weather conditions from severe cold in winter to severe hot in summer the thermoregulatory centre keeps our core body temperature at the normal range. We also have normal physiological minor fluctuations of this normal range. Generally in the evening, after meals and during menstrual cycles, the temperature goes up a little. The hypothalamus plays a dynamic role in this temperature regulation of our body. Whether we drink cold water or warm water it reaches the body’s normal temperature within a minute of drinking. So warm water keeps all disease away is baseless and unscientific. We use warm water when we have sore throat, otherwise warm water has no health benefits,” the doctor said.