The Research
The research was conducted a few years ago by the thermal ergonomics lab at the University of Ottawa in the States. They found that if you drink a hot drink it does lower the heat stored in your body providing the additional sweat that you produce can then evaporate.
Ollie Jay was the researcher leading the project. “What we found is that when you ingest a hot drink, you actually have a disproportionate increase in the amount that you sweat,” Jay says. “Yes, the hot drink is hotter than your body temperature, so you are adding heat to the body, but the amount that you increase your sweating by—if that can all evaporate—more than compensates for the added heat to the body from the fluid.”
It’s All About Sweating
Not always a great subject but this is all about sweating. When we sweat we cool our body down. So the more we sweat the cooler we get. So any heat created by drinking a hot drink will be dealt with by more sweating. It is important to say however that the sweat does need to get out so if you drank a hot coffee on a hot day and wore a heavy jumper then the sweat will not be able to evaporate and you will feel hot and more uncomfortable.
Why Do Hot Drinks Produce More Sweat?
It was commonly believed that hot drinks raise your temperature therefore producing more sweat but in fact researchers now say that it could be more about the thermosensors that line the throat and mouth. These sensors cause the additional sweating. Although how all this works still has to be investigated.
So, whilst we have a great range now of iced coffee drinks that have become so popular don’t ditch your favourite hot brew on a hot day. Just make sure that you can sweat out that sweat!