If you have ever spent any time in Asia or specifically China you must have been offered warm/hot water each and every day. It cures all ailments. If you have a digestion problem, drink it. If you are getting sick with flu, drink it. You broke your arm, drink it. The custom of drinking warm water has been dated so far into history and it’s considered a basic health tradition in the country.

But does it really help? Or is it just a remnant of an ancient tradition of curing illness when no modern medicine was available? Chinese traditional medicines are many and they are available for all possible health conditions. But none other thing is as widely practiced as drinking warm water. You can see people diligently carrying their thermos from home to work. Drinking it all throughout the year and avoiding cold beverages. The importance of another small thing in our lives you can check in Salt – The Spice Of The Earth.

Maintaining the balance

Now that we know more about the human body we can make observations and conclusions. The practice of drinking warm water comes from the Chinese understanding of the elements of the human body. There is a yang element and the yin element. For anybody to be healthy these two elements need to be in balance. All that we consume either food or drink can be considered either yin or yang. And here is where the imbalance usually happens.

When a person has a yin imbalance in their body the logical solution is to consume more yin. And that is hot or warm water. And this has been proved historically to improve health. But we should consider also that to make water hot it is primarily boiled which would make it healthier since you are killing the possible bacteria. But is that all? Are there no other benefits?

Health benefits of warm water

Warm (but not too hot) water is very beneficial for the human body. Warm water can relieve symptoms of flu and runny nose. High temperatures in warm water can speed up the passage of mucus so cold symptoms will subside. It can also suppress the pain in the throat.

Drinking warm water in the morning can help activate your metabolism and cleanse the intestines and eliminate waste in your body. It can also help with constipation problems and activate the digestive tract.

For those that have sensitive teeth, it’s recommended to drink warm water because it can provide more comfort and not cause any pain. If you drink warm water every day regularly it will help the body to break down fat and toxins from your body and improve blood circulation.

Stay hydrated

It doesn’t matter what your health goal is in life. If you are trying to lose weight or just eating a more healthy diet. Drinking enough water is a basic requirement for any part of your body to stay healthy. Shiny hair, strong nails, glowing skin, healthy kidneys and liver, and strong immune systems. Our body needs enough water to survive. It’s one of the basic and primary requirements that we need to fulfill. Having enough water can make you feel less stressed.

And your water source has to be clean, free of bacteria and other pollutants. Have enough minerals and salts for our body’s needs. So there is some truth about drinking warm water. In the period in history when clean water sources were sporadic. When people didn’t know that drinking polluted and infested water is a source of disease. There was still some thought, some connection about what we put in our bodies and how our bodies react to it. And the traditional medicinal culture at the time was intelligent enough to make the conclusion of boiling water and saving your water supply from the outside environment. Maybe some herbal medicines we wouldn’t implement today because they are outdated and have no medical standing. But drinking warm, clean water has been beneficial and helpful for so many centuries until now.