Are cold drinks really bad for you?
MYTH #1: You urinate more when you drink cold drinks.
Fact: Drinking a cold Coke or an Iced cappuccino won't cause you to urinate much more than drinking the same amount of water. Alcohol, however, has a much stronger diuretic effect than any cold drink.
MYTH #2: Cold drinks give you abdominal cramps.
Fact: Actually, drinking really cold liquids may lead to a slight constriction of the blood vessels in the skin and decrease heat loss for a few minutes. But the effect is temporary and does not affect the abdomen.
MYTH #3: You can get ulcers from cold drinks.
Fact: Ulcers are holes or breaks in the inner lining of the oesophagus (the 12-inch food pipe that extends from the back of the throat to the stomach) and the stomach. Experts say that what you eat is irrelevant. While caffeine-containing beverages and other "irritating" foods may aggravate existing ulcers, they don't cause the problem.
MYTH #4: Cold drinks can give you a cold.
Fact: Colds are caused by cold viruses and are irrevelant to temperature. Without having the virus, cold drinks will not give you the common cold unless you share a straw or glass used by someone infected with the virus.
MYTH #5: Cold drinks make arthritis worse.
Fact: Arthritis is a musculoskeleton disease which means it affects the bones and soft tissue in joints. There is no evidence to indicate that cold drinks worsen the effects of arthritis.
MYTH #6: Cold drinks cool you down faster.
Fact: It is not the temperature but the amount of the drink you consume that matters. The more liquid you drink, the more your body cools off. But drinking cold drinks on a hot day has a psychological effect, tricking your mind into thinking you're cooling down faster.
MYTH #7: Cold soft drinks are fattening.
Fact: The sugar in soft drinks is fattening. Consider this: each teaspoon of sugar contains 16 calories. If you multiply this by 10 teaspoons -- the amount of sugar in an average can of soft drink -- that adds up to 160 calories. But soft drinks aren't the only culprits. Often, such drinks are consumed with other foods that are loaded with sugar, many of which have more calories than your favorite soft drink.
MYTH #8: Cold drinks destroy teeth.
Fact: It is the frequency and form of sugar ingestion that causes tooth decay. For instance, sticky sweet foods remain on your teeth longer than sugar-laced drinks that passed through your mouth. This makes cold drinks a minor factor in causing cavities.
Labels: abdominal cramps, arithritis, cold, cold drinks, cooling, destroy teeth, diuretic effect, fattening, ulcers
