When we catch a cold, our relatives, friends or doctors will recommend drinking more hot water and resting. In fact, the cold is an upper respiratory viral infection with self-limiting, and there is no clear evidence that drinking more hot water has any effect on the cold itself, but it can indeed relieve some cold discomfort symptoms.
How to properly "drink more hot water" after a cold? "There are also some special things to pay special attention to:
1. Drink water in moderation
The water that the human body drinks can only be used by the body if it is really absorbed into the blood by the small intestine, and if you keep drinking water after a cold, or even feel bloated and uncomfortable, there will be a sound of water "shaking" in the stomach when walking, in this case, short-term intake of a large amount of water will lead to water retention in the digestive tract, increasing the burden on the stomach and weakening the function of gastric contraction.
2. Pay attention to electrolytes
Although drinking more water can promote the body's metabolism, eliminate toxins from the body, help reduce fever and so on. After blindly drinking too much water, the urine excreted from the body will also increase, and electrolytes such as sodium and potassium in the body will also be lost, and once the amount of entry and exit is unbalanced, it will cause disorders in the electrolyte level in the body. It can even cause a series of problems such as water poisoning, hyponatremia, and hypokalemia.
Therefore, just blindly replenishing water is wrong, should also pay attention to sodium, potassium and other electrolyte supplementation, if not pay attention to sodium, potassium and other electrolyte supplementation, there will be dizziness, fatigue and other uncomfortable symptoms, and at this time, the body will send signals through the brain, the human body will through urine or sweat form to eliminate the body can not absorb water, and then cause spontaneous dehydration.
3. It is recommended to drink warm water
Although drinking hot water has limited efficacy on colds, scientific research has found that regular consumption of hot drinks and hot food above a certain temperature is associated with the prevalence of oral cancer and esophageal cancer. Therefore, it is recommended to drink less "hot mouth" hot water, hot drinks, hot water, hot soup is best to properly warm and then drink it will be better.
4. Diet should be reasonable
During the cold and illness, the patient's appetite will be significantly reduced, do not like to eat spicy and greasy food, may be the gastrointestinal mucosa also suffered virus loss, in the later stage of the gastrointestinal function gradually restored, our appetite will naturally slowly improve, do not worry. It is recommended to increase the intake of water during the cold, if you really do not want to drink water, you can also drink milk, fresh juice, light soup porridge and other alternatives; At the same time, we should also try to ensure that the diet is light and pay attention to the nutritional intake of high-quality protein.
"Drink more hot water" for colds, plus rest more, and the cold will naturally get better!
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Resources
[1] "8 glasses of water a day" is not scientific Xinhuanet
[2] Respiratory Physician Branch of Chinese Medical Doctor Association, Emergency Physician Branch of Chinese Medical Doctor Association. Expert consensus on standardized diagnosis and treatment of common cold[J].Chinese Journal of Internal Medicine,2012.51(4):330-333.)
[3] Chinese Nutrition Society, Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents, Lhasa: Tibet People's Publishing House, 2010
[4] WAN Xuehong,LU Xuefeng. Diagnostics[M].Beijing:People's Medical Publishing House,2019:380-384.