Drinking a glass of warm water cleanses and awakens the digestive tract, hydrates the tissues, and encourages a bowel movement. Ayurveda Wisdom
When I was eleven years old, my mom decided to follow a “naturista,” which is like a wellness & health guru via plant-based diet and not a naturist, which is nudism, which my mom would have never approved or followed. The first wellness guideline from the “naturista” she implemented in our household was room temperature water. She placed “tinajas” or clay jars around the house and we drank water from these for a long time, eventually the “tinajas” went away and we just drank room temperature water. So by the time I was introduced to the Ayurveda’s concept of not drinking cold water, I had had over twenty years of practice. So this is why I am telling you this story: it does take time to switch and move the temperature of the water you are drinking to a warmer degree, but it can be done.
In Ayurveda, water intake is very important. Ayurveda recommends keeping water drinking separate from the meals, and adequate hydration is emphasized at least thirty minutes outside of your mealtime. I think we can all agree that the proverbial 8 glasses of water a day is a good place to start. So let’s explore why cold water is not preferred.
In Ayurveda, an incredibly important concept is agni (your digestive fire). Agni is the transformative power in the body—digesting food, thought, and emotions. It is hot, sharp, light, subtle, luminous, and clear. To simplify: agni is fire, fire is hot. Ayurveda’s principle of “like increases like, and treat excess with the opposite” explains, then, that the ice cold water will decrease the strength of your fire or agni. Likewise, if you want to augment agni you will probably want to drink hot water or hot teas.
There was a small but interesting study done in the 1980’s, where they measured how long it took the stomach to empty its contents when the individual drank cold (39°F), room temperature (98°F), or warm (122°F) orange juice. They found that the stomach temperature dropped after drinking the cold juice and it took nearly 20–30 minutes to return back to normal temperature. They also found that the cold drinks increased the emptying time.1 You could say that the agni had to work harder to maintain its proper energetics so that it could digest properly.
What we are avoiding by maintaining a strong agni is the production of ama (toxic, metabolic wastes). When foodstuff sits undigested in your trashcan, it ferments. A similar process can occur in the gastrointestinal tract.
I know drinking warm water may be a big ask, but here is a place to start: Drink one glass of Warm Water first thing in the morning. Drinking a glass of warm water cleanses and awakens the digestive tract, hydrates the tissues, and encourages a bowel movement. So maybe you aren’t ready for warm water (I wasn’t for years), start with room temperature water till it’s a routine and then start mixing it with warmer water till you find the right temperature for your new habit.
