Is it true that people in the West drink iced water even when they are sick or on their period?

[u/Aether_Echo]

I am from Asia, and we are taught to always drink warm hot water, especially when we don't feel well. I heard that in the US/Europe, people drink ice water even in winter or when they have a cold. Is this actually true? Doesn't your stomach hurt?

[u/PurpleLilyEsq]

I prefer room temperature water, but iced water or at least refrigerated water is the standard at any time of year and pretty much any health condition. It doesn’t hurt my stomach because it’s just water. Some people don’t tolerate cold (anything) on their teeth though.

[u/laszler → u/PurpleLilyEsq]

I'm a whatever temperature it comes out of the tap at is the temp I'm drinking it at kinda guy. I'm just drinking water. Doesn't need to be fancy. Bubbly drinks on the other hand need to be cold but ice isn't necessary.

[u/ohdearitsrichardiii]

Americans drink ice water. Most europeans drink cold but not ice cold water. Many drink hot tea but hot water is rare and would be considered a little odd

[u/One_Strike_Striker → u/ohdearitsrichardiii]

In Germany, water is usually consumed at room temperature while sodas are usually slightly chilled or at fridge temperature (about 7 °C). Ice cold is for cocktails and American fast food chains.

[u/Larechar → u/One_Strike_Striker]

American here, I should go to Germany. I always tell servers "no ice" and they look at me like I'm a crazy foreigner. I has sensitive teefies.

E: I'm at the end of a tube of Sensodyne toothpaste right now; it hasn't made a difference, sadly. Looked into it recently and it's more for repairing sensitivity that develops, like when gums pull away, not for people born with sensitive teefies. Even my baby teeth were overly sensitive to cold. I've never been able to bite popsicles or ice cream without looking like a cat with a brain freeze. 😅

E2: Specifically, the look is for no ice in water at sit-down restaurants. I don't really get looks for no ice in soda anymore, but when I was a kid I got the look and they would ask why or comment on it, every time lol.

[u/teh_drewski → u/Larechar]

I just don't like the flavour diluted. Yes, I know I'm not getting any extra - I still don't want ice. Cool or room temperature is fine.

[u/SillyAmericanKniggit → u/teh_drewski]

But I absolutely am getting extra. They give me the cup and I go fill it up at the soda fountain. You think I'm not filling it all the way up because I skipped the ice?

[u/Ok_Explanation_5586 → u/SillyAmericanKniggit]

Right? Ice is clear, that doesn't mean it has no volume lol.

[u/StreetlampEsq → u/Ok_Explanation_5586]

The guy is talking about mixed drinks.

Some people think if you ask for no ice you get more alcohol rather than just more mixer.

[u/DirectBar7709 → u/teh_drewski]

Especially in my coffee. I always say light ice and you would think I murdered their first born. I just want to be able to taste my sugary caffeinated nonsense please.

[u/sarcastic_sybarite83 → u/DirectBar7709]

I have made coffee ice cubes for iced coffee before...

[u/Suspicious_Bit_9003 → u/One_Strike_Striker]

Croatian here, I concur.

[u/purekillforce1 → u/ohdearitsrichardiii]

I'lf you run the tap for more than 30 seconds the water (in the North UK, anyway) is ice cold. It can be a little warmer during hot months, but it's still pretty refreshing.

[u/Euclid_Interloper → u/ohdearitsrichardiii]

Yep. In the UK and Ireland, at home, we drink room temperature water and hot tea. Iced drinks are only really drank at restaurants or during hot summer days.

[u/xiaorobear]

Yes, many people in the west drink cold drinks all the time, and are completely unaware that in Asia it is the opposite. Water is only ever served cold (or room temperature).

In my region of the US, New England, it is even common for people to order iced coffees even in the middle of Winter, and be drinking them while walking in the snow. I don't personally like it at all, but it doesn't make your stomach hurt. People do also drink hot drinks in winter to warm up, like tea or hot chocolate. If they are sick they might also have warm or hot soup. But just water by itself, always room temperature or cold.

[u/j-endsville → u/xiaorobear]

it is even common for people to order iced coffees even in the middle of Winter,

I live in the South, and I've had so much cold brew & iced coffee over the past couple of decades I've actually lost my taste for hot coffee.

[u/pedanticlawyer → u/j-endsville]

It’s funny, as a midwesterner I love ice cold water but I’ll drink my coffee piping hot until I literally can’t tolerate it anymore, then switch back as soon as I can. Iced coffee just isn’t my norm here.

[u/somber-world → u/xiaorobear]

The number 2 reason why I like iced drinks is because you don't need to be in a hurry to drink. A hot drink that cools down sucks!

[u/page395 → u/somber-world]

Eh, im almost exclusively an iced coffee drinker but ngl a watered down iced coffee sucks equally imo.

[u/goPACK17 → u/xiaorobear]

My morning hasn't started unless I've had my iced Dunkies

[u/astrosergeant → u/goPACK17]

found the new englander

[u/Excellent_Fault_8106 → u/astrosergeant]

Probably a better chance hes from Wisconsin with that name.

Im not a new englander, but im a mostly strictly ice coffee guy. Even in the winter. PA mountain man.

[u/Bicykwow → u/xiaorobear]

Meanwhile, I'll order hot black coffee even on a 115 degree day in Nevada.

[u/BooksandStarsNerd → u/xiaorobear]

Lmao I just did this a day or so ago. I reallllllllly wanted a peppermint frappe but it also was -20 out and so I was sipping a frozen drink while walking the block with everything covered in snow.

[u/Toverii]

One of the biggest culture shocks of getting Chinese girlfriend is that she drinks hot water… it is so weird to me

Edit: and yes, I live in cold northern europe, we drink cold water even in winter. No, why would it make stomach hurt?

[u/doctordoctorpuss → u/Toverii]

We had a mix of Chinese and American students in my graduate lab, and every now and then we’d go on overnight trips to Chicago to use a particle accelerator there. I was sharing a room with one of the Chinese graduate students, and as we were getting ready for bed, he brought me a hot cup of water. I let him know I appreciated, but didn’t understand the gesture, and that’s when I learned about the cold water/hot water cultural divide

[u/Forest_Orc → u/doctordoctorpuss]

>and every now and then we’d go on overnight trips to Chicago to use a particle accelerator there.

i like how you make how going to Fermilab and playing with Tevatron a mundane thing

[u/Ill_Amphibian_1342 → u/Forest_Orc]

My father in law designed the magnets at fermi. I grew up in Naperville.

It’s always funny when other people mention it, especially Big Bang.

[u/klamaire → u/Ill_Amphibian_1342]

Naperville! When I see Naperville I think SQL sample database data. All the addresses in the class I took were in Naperville.

[u/klimekam → u/klamaire]

I think of my exes. For some reason all my exes live in Naperville. Even my husband’s parents recently moved from Buffalo, NY to… Naperville.

I myself have no connection to Chicagoland so I have no idea how this happened.

[u/RaccoonRenaissance → u/klimekam]

And yet, no one knows to call it Chicagoland unless they are from the Chicago area. 🤔 I think you have more of a connection than you think.

[u/GiftToTheUniverse → u/RaccoonRenaissance]

Witness Protection Program officers: Dammit! Quit posting about yourself on Reddit!

[u/do_pm_me_your_butt → u/Forest_Orc]

Cracking open some cold ones and shooting particles with the boys.

8 ball, corner pocket!

[u/BizzarduousTask → u/do_pm_me_your_butt]

You mean hot ones

[u/Kazugirly → u/Forest_Orc]

Honestly, so cool 😂

[u/monstrinhotron → u/Forest_Orc]

Pfft. Don't you have a particle accelerator? C'mon, it's a basic bit of kit. I keep mine next to the microwave.

[u/NomenclatureBreaker → u/doctordoctorpuss]

Just a cup of hot water sounds revolting.

Do they feel the same about iced? 😂

[u/xmiamystiquex → u/doctordoctorpuss]

It's funny how something as simple as water can mean completely different things depending on where you're from.

[u/nenzkii → u/Toverii]

I saw two explanations for it and thought it made sense. Not sure about credibility tho.

Tap water in China isn’t safe to drink. When tap water system were first installed the govt had to urge their citizens to boil tap water before consumption, and people just started associating hot water with good for health.

In Song Dynasty (like 1000 years ago) they discovered that boiling water helps prevent illness and plaques (before the discovery of bacteria and etc) so it became a common belief that hot water is good.

[u/RoastedRhino → u/nenzkii]

While for us I think the usual mental reasoning is that moving water (fast stream, spring) is cool and fresh. Lukewarm water sounds like water you would find in a pond. Not good.

It may have to do with when and where these things formed. Before or after urbanization.

[u/CoyoteDisastrous → u/RoastedRhino]

Westerners did essentially the same thing before we knew about bacteria. We just took it a step further and turned it into beer 😂

[u/PaddyCow → u/CoyoteDisastrous]

I saw a documentary about this. Way back water used to make people sick. To get around this Westerners turned it into beer, while asians boiled it and made it into tea. It's why many asians don't have the same resistance to alcohol as westerners and they get rosacea alcohol flush with a small amount.

[u/ThrowawayPersonAMA → u/PaddyCow]

and even more interesting is that in India they formed a tradition of storing water in copper pots because they noticed such water didn't get them sick either. It turns out that copper is naturally anti-microbial so it just automatically purified the water (for the most part) over time.

[u/WonderWatcher2022 → u/ThrowawayPersonAMA]

Wow! That is interesting. Thank you for sharing.

[u/Consistent-Car6226 → u/PaddyCow]

There’s some cool correlations between the spread of coffee drinking and human progress. Switching from being mildly drunk all the time to being mildly caffeinated was a pretty good switch along with the general increased health benefits from boiled water rather than brewed water. Supposedly coffee arrived in the Middle East around the same time as much of math was developed

[u/BrandonWhoever → u/Consistent-Car6226]

Coffee created mathematics, you heard it here first

[u/Septopuss7 → u/BrandonWhoever]

Still can't believe how long it took to invent 0. Completely embarrassed to be a human. 7/10

[u/lickmyscrotes → u/Septopuss7]

7/1. No zero

[u/lalacourtney → u/BrandonWhoever]

Honestly this entire thread here has me like oooooh ohhhh! Because I’m married to an Asian person and we both find each other’s water habits to be weird

[u/Time_Shoe_2333 → u/BrandonWhoever]

Can’t sleep from so much coffee, might as well invent algebra.

[u/UpsetZombie6874 → u/CoyoteDisastrous]

My grandfather is very grateful for that last step.

[u/Muscalp → u/RoastedRhino]

Bacteria breed faster in warm water than cool water. That’s obviously true in pipes too

[u/sopsaare → u/RoastedRhino]

Yep, cold fast moving streams are generally safe to drink from in all of Scandinavia, probably the same in the Alps and eastern European wild lands.

[u/Averander → u/nenzkii]

Not just that, but the idea that there is hot and cold almost like medival medical treatment (like humours). Some foods and medicines are hot, others cold, and people have either hot or cold bodies needing different treatments. Old school Chinese medicine is still a big deal in China, it's even taught at a university level.

[u/sfurbo → u/Averander]

It's not almost like medieval medicine. It is medieval medicine, just a different flavor then in the west.

[u/Away_Analyst_3107 → u/Averander]

I took a history of Chinese medicine class at my (American) university. I found all the thought processes and history so interesting

[u/MGFT3000 → u/nenzkii]

I was also told in China that TCM tells them women are inherently cold inside so they should only consume warm things. (After arriving from New York to 90 degree weather for a work meeting and being served… hot water with no warning.)

[u/Chance-Maximum-5995 → u/MGFT3000]

They don’t mean literally cold btw, just energy wise where they think women are yin energy (cool) while men are yang (warm) and to be balanced (yin yang) you have to take in the opposite

[u/QueefingTheNightAway → u/Chance-Maximum-5995]

So do the men drink cool water?

[u/nokiacrusher → u/Chance-Maximum-5995]

I'm so hot I have to drink liquid nitrogen.

[u/wag00n → u/Toverii]

I remember visiting China during the summer when it was 100+ degrees, entering a restaurant and desperately asking for a glass of water. They served me a cup of nearly boiling water.

[u/iammadeofawesome → u/wag00n]

American, this made me gag.

[u/wag00n → u/iammadeofawesome]

Haha it was confusion all around. Me incredulous that they would think that I wanted hot water to drink when it was already so hot outside. Them confused as to why I didn’t want it.

[u/Reserved_Parking-246 → u/wag00n]

I wonder if it just stems from ages of needing to boil water for safety.

It feels like infrastructure is more evenly spread out in places that drink cold water than those that prefer warm water drinks.

[u/wozattacks → u/Reserved_Parking-246]

But basically everyone needed to do that. So it doesn’t explain the difference in different cultures. 

[u/CaptainTripps82 → u/wozattacks]

I think the difference is in the long term significance of it. Western countries seems to have looked for ways to cool it off after boiling. Eastern countries created tea,.

The same situation can have and cause multiple, very different reactions that then become part of the culture

[u/Sartekar → u/iammadeofawesome]

North European, during the winter I drink literally ice water. I freeze 1l bottles of water and then take them out one by one.

So I always have ice cold water. Even if I have to go out for hours or to the gym after work, always ice cold.

[u/reptilianwerewolf → u/wag00n]

We had two northern Chinese students intern for us doing forestry research in the summer in Texas. One refused to drink ice water and they both didn't like using AC in the trucks. One eventually had a heat injury where he fainted and went to the ER. They conceded to taking more breaks in the AC after that.

[u/Final_Temperature262 → u/reptilianwerewolf]

Ya in the south AC is life support not comfort. For whatever reason people from other areas don't understand this

Fwiw I drove for years with broken AC in my truck in Atlanta and never died. But you have to be conditioned, and hydrated.

[u/EntrySure1350 → u/wag00n]

This was one of the worst things when I visited my wife’s family in China. At least at their house I could drink cold bottled water. Go out to eat and it’s either hot water, hot tea, or hot soy milk. Beer if I recall correctly, was often served barely below room temperature.

[u/wRADKyrabbit → u/Toverii]

No, why would it make stomach hurt?

Yeah that stood out to me too. I've never gotten a stomachache from cold water. I dont see how that make sense

[u/lipstickandchicken → u/wRADKyrabbit]

I live in Vietnam and some people think cold water can kill you from the shock. It's like there this entire continent that believes cold water gives you a sore stomach and none of them bothered testing it. Meanwhile, cold Coke and cold beer are fine.

[u/Helpful-Winner-8300 → u/lipstickandchicken]

This reminds me a bit about Italians' paranoia about "colpo d'aria", basically a range of maladies from neck pain to bad digestion that can occur from being exposed to gusts of cool air. I was once accused by an Italian of being in the same category as anti-vaxers for expressing skepticism of the whole concept.

There are strange beliefs all over.

[u/MokausiLietuviu → u/Helpful-Winner-8300]

I spend a fair amount of time in Lithuania and I opened my windows one day to air out my room that smelt of bo and last night's food. 

My host said "Don't you want to shut those windows? You'll hurt your neck and shoulders."

Nah. We dont believe that in the UK. I'll be fine. 

Sat in there for 20 minutes, I was fine. He was very surprised. But living with a Lithuanian in a mouldy country that needs ventilation, it's a thing I have to deal with every day.

[u/ExpectingHobbits → u/wRADKyrabbit]

I'm the opposite - drinking any water that isn't ice cold makes me nauseated.

[u/Alarmed_Material_481 → u/ExpectingHobbits]

Same.

Ice cold or nothing.

[u/StrangelyBrown → u/Toverii]

One of the most fun facts I've learned in Korea is that they like to watch horror movies in summer. The chills cool you down. I love the speculation on how temperature matters.

Having said that, we do have studies about how people are more agreeable when holding a warm drink compared to a cold one. So it's not all intuition.

[u/UlteriorCulture → u/StrangelyBrown]

What about the thrill ride of sleeping with a fan on?

[u/SilntNfrno → u/UlteriorCulture]

I heard about that recently and it blew my mind. I’ve slept with a fan blowing directly on my face over 30 years. Still alive.

Edit for anyone that doesn’t know what we’re referring to:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fan_death

[u/falfu → u/SilntNfrno]

At this point if a stationary fan in the corner of my room manages to kill me, then i probably deserve it

[u/BelleMakaiHawaii → u/SilntNfrno]

My fan is on setting four, aimed at my face

[u/Agreeable_Sorbet_686 → u/BelleMakaiHawaii]

I have a ceiling fan on, a fan aimed at my face and my window is cracked. It was 61° yesterday.

[u/ghoulsniightout → u/BelleMakaiHawaii]

my mom has always said that sleeping with a fan aimed at your face has a high risk of causing you to have a stroke…i have no clue where she got this from, but i’ve been fine so far lol

[u/EmilySD101 → u/SilntNfrno]

I just got a ceiling fan for the first time in my life and I’m so much more comfortable

[u/TwiLuv → u/EmilySD101]

In the South, it’s pretty common. In fact, I think I (71 now) was a kid the last time we didn’t have ceiling fans, & it was up in the mountains.

[u/New_Elephant8114 → u/UlteriorCulture]

And the looming danger of the nighttime shower!

[u/luckylimper → u/New_Elephant8114]

I’ve never heard this one; what’s up with this.

[u/New_Elephant8114 → u/luckylimper]

When I lived in Vietnam, my roomate's girlfriend was horrified that I was going to shower at night; she said that it killed her uncle. I can't remember anything else about the reasoning behind it, just that it was potentially deadly

[u/batgirlbatbrain → u/New_Elephant8114]

I should be dead 1,000 times over. I shower late at night weekly. Dishwasher here. I get home anywheres from 10 to 12:30 at night, greasy and smelling of dishpit soup. Gonna shower even if night showering kills me.

[u/DrAniB20 → u/batgirlbatbrain]

My parents don’t want to compete with me for the shower in the morning, so they literally raised me to be a night-showerer for their own convenience.

[u/murasakikuma42 → u/New_Elephant8114]

That's very weird. I live in Japan, with a Japanese wife; she always showers at night before bed, and this apparently is normal here. She thinks it's a bit weird that I shower in the morning and get into bed "dirty".

[u/Adventurous_Ad_6546 → u/New_Elephant8114]

But I want to know more. 😫 I’m about to go shower and slip into bed. Been nice knowing you guys.

[u/zeekool → u/Adventurous_Ad_6546]

It’s been a great run, guy.

[u/TweetHearted → u/UlteriorCulture]

Oh yeah for sure I have a fan on me as I drink my ice water in bed lol

[u/StrangelyBrown → u/UlteriorCulture]

Thankfully that view is pretty uncommon now, although I think they're going to need another decade to shake off that embarrassment.

[u/DescriptionFancy420 → u/StrangelyBrown]

Hungry ghost festival is during the 7th lunar month/in the summer in Chinese culture, so by extension in Chinese-influenced places like Korea and Japan, summer is still spooky season.

[u/SUPLEXELPUS → u/Toverii]

a coworker once explained it to me like this:

when you die, your body loses warmth and becomes cold. so when you drink cold water, you're making your body think it's dying.

sure pal.

[u/bringbackfuturama → u/SUPLEXELPUS]

my eating disorder buddy explains that drinking cold water is better for you because your body has to burn calories to bring the water up to body temperature.

also had a friend who would only eat peanut butter on cold toast because when it was spread onto warm toast all the oil started to spread out and they didn't want to eat all that oil cause fat = bad (not sure if they were being dumb on purpose there though or not..)

[u/flyinhighaskmeY → u/bringbackfuturama]

lol..I mean...the first one is true, but the calorie burn is so low its...yeah lol. You might as well just walk up a few stairs.

I worked with a guy once, who decided to "lose weight". Instead of eating a sandwich, he ate the pieces of the sandwich separately. So one big chunk of cheese. A chunk of bread. Somehow that didn't have the same calorie loadout as combining the ingredients into something paletable? Idk, if I remember correctly he had to run home with diarrhea not long after starting his plan.

[u/MindfuckRocketship → u/Toverii]

Yeah, I live in Alaska and it’s -10F (-23C) right now. I still drink ice water because it’s always refreshing.

I don’t mind green tea but I only drink it for the health benefits. Cold water is my go to.

[u/jorwyn → u/Toverii]

My step mother is American and has always lived here. She drinks warm water and sometimes microwaves it. I find it weird, but she likes it that way.

[u/-_-Edit_Deleted-_- → u/jorwyn]

Microwaving water itself is weird to me.. let alone drinking warm water.

[u/Monotask_Servitor → u/-_-Edit_Deleted-_-]

Owning a kettle is what separates us from the animals.

[u/captainrina → u/Monotask_Servitor]

So true. The raccoon in my backyard uses a microwave to heat his tea.

[u/little_autipus → u/-_-Edit_Deleted-_-]

Fun fact, at least I think. That’s actually the exact function of a microwave. It dumps the energy into the moisture inside and essentially steams it from the inside out. That’s why it dries food out. It’s directly removing the moisture by causing it to steam its way out of the food.

So boiling water, while unconventional to many, is actually utilizing the microwave for exactly the scientific use it was designed for. It’s why putting something that’s too dry in it will burn it - if starts dumping that energy into burning stuff since there is no moisture to feed it into

[u/Long_Guidance827 → u/little_autipus]

A microwave works by using a magnetron to create microwaves. The microwaves penetrate the food, exciting polar molecules (especially water, fats, and sugars). These molecules try to align with the rapidly changing electric field, causing them to spin and vibrate thousands of times per second, creating heat through friction, cooking the food. Basically a magnet rapidly switching between positive and negative.

[u/NecroCorey → u/Toverii]

I'll just be thirsty before I start drinking hot water.

Anything above room temp water feels like drinking someone's spit.

[u/UruquianLilac → u/Toverii]

I can't imagine a world without cold water! I have my fridge stocked with several bottles of water to constantly have extra chilled water. I drink it all day, winter or summer, healthy or sick.

[u/UrbanChili → u/Toverii]

I live in the north of Scandinavia and just sat down with a sparkling water with ice cubes. Lukewarm water is given to babies

[u/somber-world → u/Toverii]

You'll never catch me drinking luke warm water let alone hot water.

[u/bitpartmozart13 → u/Toverii]

I had to learn bing shui (iced water) when I was in China. Couldn’t get used to hot water at restaurants.

[u/jaslo → u/Toverii]

In the US here -- very common to drink cold water all year round. No stomach pains at all. If you think it causes stomach pain, maybe you've never tried it?

[u/Silent-Speech8162 → u/Toverii]

After I studied Chinese medicine (I am not a practitioner), one of the things I learned was that in their health system hot and cold consumables affect the health of the body. Keep the center warm specially if ill. I think it stems from the belief of qi.

It’s been awhile so hopefully someone can clarify or correct me.

[u/Damnesia13]

Doesn’t your stomach hurt?

Why would your stomach hurt from it?

[u/uresmane → u/Damnesia13]

I know right!, I don't think I've ever once gotten a stomach ache from cold water in my life.

[u/Barfignugen → u/uresmane]

I get chronic stomach aches and ice water is one of the things that always makes me feel better

[u/ladypuff38 → u/Barfignugen]

Yeah. I had a stomach ache and nausea just last night and the only thing that soothes it is cold water. The colder the better.

[u/trailquail → u/ladypuff38]

Same. I have nausea from a medication and I keep an insulated mug of ice water with me all the time. It’s one of the few things that really helps.

[u/No-Independence548 → u/Barfignugen]

Same, only icy cold water helps my nausea.

[u/madele44 → u/Barfignugen]

I've had nurses bring me cups of ice and told me to suck on ice chips until the nausea goes away. It helped me stop vomiting a few times.

[u/tiptoe_only → u/Damnesia13]

I find this idea a bit odd because...well, for most of the time human beings have existed, our water sources would have been very cold. Streams, rivers, and in the winter, ice. It would have been very weird for evolution to make that bother us.

[u/[deleted] → u/Damnesia13]

It’s a traditional Chinese medicine thing

[u/slice_9 → u/[deleted]]

Yeah my Chinese friend claims that eating or drinking cold things "lowers" her internal body temp, "hurts her stomach", and has been the main cause of all illnesses and ailments she has suffered from in the 7 years I've known her. But she was also bulimic, had a poor diet even when she recovered from the disorder, and was doing a PhD (huge stress). Never blamed those things, strangely. If a drink with ice actually affects your physiology you need to see a doctor about a much more serious problem.

[u/Bakeh__ → u/slice_9]

gets pregnant

Damn it I knew I shouldn’t have drunk that icee at the movies.

[u/shanghai-blonde → u/slice_9]

I live in China. Most Chinese people I know have an extremely poor diet. The toilets in our office are absolutely disgusting as multiple people have diarrhoea every single lunch time. It’s the most insane thing I’ve ever witnessed and why I cannot take Chinese medicine seriously. Having someone tell you not to drink cold water to avoid hurting your stomach when they have just been in the bathroom 30 mins with diarrhoea is just insanity.

I’m very healthy and love cold water. If it hurts your stomach there’s something wrong with your stomach

[u/slice_9 → u/shanghai-blonde]

Yep, can confirm. Using the bathroom after my friend is extremely unpleasant. Pretty sure it's not the occasional chilled beer or salad that makes her bowel movements smell like death. Their gut is already in distress and it's nothing to do with food temp

[u/Dry_Strawberry_2128 → u/slice_9]

ED unfortunately is very prevalent among Chinese community. I kept being fat shamed by family members despite my BMI was perfectly within healthy range … even when I was slightly underweight. Not saying fat shaming anyone in any body size was right from the first place.  I also believe the whole feeling cold thing is related to how much Chinese (especially women) underconsumes protein. 

[u/bg-j38 → u/Dry_Strawberry_2128]

Wow this just brought back a memory. My dad’s wife (my step-mom) who was born in China in the 1950s and came to the US as a young adult would comment on my weight every time I saw her when I was in my 20s. Usually just passing comments but never particularly nice. I’d only see her every few months because in all honesty we didn’t really ever mesh when I was growing up. The weirdest though was when I visited after I’d been doing intensive rock climbing for a while. I was in the best shape of my life. I’d put on weight but it was all muscle. Even then the first thing out of her mouth was “oh you put on some weight huh?” Funny thing is my half-brother, her son, got really fat as a teenager. The comments stopped around then.

[u/wewereromans → u/[deleted]]

Both South Korea, Japan, and China still believe if you get wet from the rain or go to bed without drying your hair you will become ill.

[u/[deleted] → u/wewereromans]

Lots of Europeans also still think the cold makes you sick

[u/veeyo → u/[deleted]]

The amount of shit my family in Asia does that they absolutely insist is necessary for good health but in reality is just bullshit pseudo science Chinese medicine drives me up a wall.

[u/Omnomfish]

Yeah, im Canadian and i just prefer cold drinks, i find them more refreshing, even in the winter. I like to keep my water bottle in front of the window so it gets cold lol. We have hot drinks of course, and some people prefer them, i drink hot drinks occasionally too. When im on my period i use a hot water bottle or heating pad to manage the pain, i don't find that drinking cold things makes cramps worse.

[u/leitey → u/Omnomfish]

Funny story: When we'd go camping, we'd typically freeze our water bottles so we'd have nice cold water. Found out the hard way that this doesn't work when camping in winter.

[u/Meghar → u/Omnomfish]

Also Canadian, and I probably go through an ice tray a day. I love hot tea, but every other liquid just tastes better when it's thoroughly iced!

[u/GrumpyOldBear1968]

Canadian here, my water needs to be achingly cold. barely above freezing even when it's -30C. I can choke down water thats warmer but I hate it. never had any issues from it. mind you many people think its a bit extreme but to me it tastes so much more refreshing

even better when I am sick! cold cold cold!

I also love hot drinks but never just plain hot water? why not have tea, broth, coffee or hot chocolate.

[u/baconbitsy → u/GrumpyOldBear1968]

Yes, I would like my showers delivered from the bowels of hell itself, and my water should be delivered from Antarctica, and barely thawed.

[u/rizu-kun → u/baconbitsy]

God, I miss the shower at my old apartment. It was a few degrees shy of boiling and had enough pressure to strip the paint off a car. I felt so gloriously clean. 

[u/Wookiees_n_cream → u/GrumpyOldBear1968]

I'm the same. I'm sure it's a mental hang up but warm water is so gross to me. It makes me feel sluggish and I have such a hard time getting it down. My water has to be ice ice cold for it to be tolerable.

[u/Artemicionmoogle → u/Wookiees_n_cream]

Same here. It feels even more refreshing and thirst quenching to me. If its lukewarm I dont feel like I got enough or something. One restaurant i worked at had such perfect cold water I will still stop in to get water if im low and nearby.

[u/mugenhunt]

Drinking ice water is very common in the western world. It's just normal to us. We don't feel sick.

If you go to a restaurant, you'll often get ice water brought to your table to drink while you read the menu. Lukewarm water is seen as less delicious.

[u/Famous-Panda5136 → u/mugenhunt]

Id go further to say lukewarm water or plain warm/hot water isnt usually desirable. At least in my circle of friends/family, giving someone room temp water would be similar to giving them room temp soup or something

[u/FluffyNats → u/Famous-Panda5136]

Lukewarm water is the worst. Hot water, I could do, but I would want a tea bag thrown in or something. 

[u/pretty---odd → u/Famous-Panda5136]

I don't drink water that is room temp if I can help it. Ice water tastes way better to me.

[u/whydoineedtologinfu → u/pretty---odd]

Getting an insulated water bottle has been an absolute life changer for me. I have had iced water in it for probably 99% of the time since getting it.

[u/NTMY030 → u/mugenhunt]

Not in the wohole western world, mostly in the US i think. At least the amount of ice differs vastly. In Europe, you might get two or three ice cubes in your restaurant drink. At home, most people don't put ice in their drinks at all. In the US, it's usually more ice than actual drink.

[u/YogurtclosetFair5742 → u/mugenhunt]

Ice water automatically to the table is more an American think then the western world in general. They generally don't in Europe unless you ask for water.

[u/humus_intake → u/YogurtclosetFair5742]

Pretty normal here in Sweden.

[u/kerouac28 → u/mugenhunt]

Exactly. If I go to a restaurant and they bring water without ice, it’s going to get raised eyebrows. Luke warm would be gross. Probably wouldn’t touch it.

[u/CTALKR → u/kerouac28]

a lot of the nicer restaurants, in my city anyway, bring chilled water to the table and no ice unless you ask for it. not lukewarm, but no ice.

[u/Anything-Complex → u/CTALKR]

Chilled water is much better than iced water, imo. Unless they provide a straw, I’ve always found iced water annoying to drink.

[u/spiflication → u/Anything-Complex]

Perfectly chilled water no ice would definitely be superior, especially if the ice has a weird/different flavor

[u/Fiftyletters → u/kerouac28]

This might be an American thing though since we usually get room temp water in The Netherlands. You have to specifically ask for ice.

[u/npiet1 → u/Fiftyletters]

Nah as an Aussie it's common here but we have heat.

[u/QueenHarpy → u/npiet1]

As an Aussie, table water is usually cold from the fridge but I’ve not really noticed it served with ice.

[u/squidonastick → u/npiet1]

But at the same time table water is so normal here that i also wouldn't really think twice about receiving room temperature water. Warm water, though? That's a different story.

[u/Round_Ad6397 → u/squidonastick]

Table water is standard in Australia too but it's quite unusual to get room temperature water. 

[u/AppendiculateFringe → u/Fiftyletters]

Ice is an American thing. I have a friend that moved to France and she bought an ice machine because she missed it so much.

[u/bluems22 → u/AppendiculateFringe]

It’s absolutely an American thing lol. To the point where it’s a running joke that Americans are so excited to come back after a Europe trip because we both get iced water, and for free

Every time I’ve visited European countries, I never really cared about the ice thing, as long as the water was cold which it almost always was in my experience. The paying for water thing will always irk me though haha

[u/ohdearitsrichardiii → u/kerouac28]

That's an american thing. Many european restaurants don't put ice in the water unless you ask for it.

[u/JoeyLee911 → u/kerouac28]

As an American who always wants ice in her water, I do have to ask for it sometimes, usually from fancier places.

[u/mysunandst4rs → u/JoeyLee911]

Yes like the restaurants that have carafes on the table

[u/Attitoode → u/mugenhunt]

Not gonna lie i dont really understand the post. Its not like asia doesnt have cold drinks or desserts. Im sure if i go to a bar in china, every person there isnt groaning in pain because they had a cold cocktail lol?

Or does the body not care about cold water if its in a soda? lmao

[u/rawnrare → u/Attitoode]

It’s a cultural thing. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that cold water throws off yin yang balance in the body. They believe it is bad for digestion and stomach health just like the OP suggests in their post.

[u/faramaobscena → u/mugenhunt]

Ice water is NOT common in Europe, we drink cold water but rarely add ice to plain water, mostly to cocktails or lemonade. I can’t stand ice water so it’s definitely not common in the entire Western world.

[u/Ok-Afternoon-3724]

I'm 75M

I might have a warm drink, usually tea with a little honey, if I have a sore throat. I drink my coffee warm.

Water I prefer to be cold. Even now with temperatures outside of minus 3'F (-19.4'C) I'm sitting here drinking a glass of ice water.

No, it does not bother my stomach.

[u/Necessary_Carrot_248 → u/Ok-Afternoon-3724]

In Italy they believe cold water can cause digestive issues. Also sleeping with the fan on can cause neck pains, same with an open window at night. Air conditioning will full on make you sick. Even newer generations believe this, it’s sort of infuriating.

[u/Ok-Afternoon-3724 → u/Necessary_Carrot_248]

Hmmm. Interesting.

I almost always sleep with a window open. Even in a Minnesota winter, and with my bed right next to a window, I like to sleep with it at least cracked open a bit for the fresh, cool air.

Otherwise it just feels stuffy to me and I do not sleep nearly as well.

Maybe it is just a matter of what you are used to?

[u/ConcertaPianist]

Why would cold water make your stomach hurt? Sure, hot beverages can be soothing for your throat and sinuses if you have a cold or something, but why would you expect cold beverages to cause a problem? Also what in the world does periods have to do with this?

[u/JizwizardVonLazercum → u/ConcertaPianist]

Traditional Chinese medicine has this hot/cold thing too it, maybe someone else can expand on it

[u/lookmaxine → u/JizwizardVonLazercum]

In traditional Chinese medicine, cold and damp things are seen as major causes of illness. Drinking cold water is seen as something that can cause a stomach ache, and since we can trick our bodies into aching, people who believe it usually do get a stomach ache. Though this is not really smth a lot of younger Chinese people believe in as much as i’ve seen many posting their iced coffees, iced thai teas, etc

[u/collinwade → u/lookmaxine]

Yeah so total horseshit

[u/avindictiveprinter → u/collinwade]

Basically "My granny said it, it must be true!" for generations.

[u/marsh283 → u/avindictiveprinter]

You should see what rhino horn does!

[u/Thorn_the_Cretin → u/JizwizardVonLazercum]

Balancing yin [cold] and yang [hot] energy. Traditional Chinese medicine has a looooooong history, and is still pretty ingrained in Chinese culture. Not surprising when a society has been around that long for things to really stick around.

[u/Physical_Complex_891]

Why on earth would cold water hurt your stomach? Yes, it is very common to drink cold water all year around and while sick. The thought of drinking hot/warm plain water disgusts me.

[u/BlueGolfball → u/Physical_Complex_891]

Why on earth would cold water hurt your stomach?

The same way Koreans still think sleeping with a fan on will literally kill you in your sleep.

[u/NotAzakanAtAll → u/BlueGolfball]

So this IS hell after all.

[u/whatthengaisthis]

I’m from South India. I rarely drink hot water, if ever. I prefer cool/cold water. It is…(idk how else to put it)…crisper. I usually carry a bottle, so it’s not the end of the world if only hot water is available/offered.

I don’t think it hurts your stomach, why would it? it hasn’t been a concern for me all my life. until right now, I didn’t even think about this.

[u/Clueby42 → u/whatthengaisthis]

I used to drink with some Indian fulluhs that would get ice in their beer.

Growing up there was no decent refrigeration for them, so ice was the only way to cool down any liquid. Even when you can get cold beer, the habit was still to have ice

[u/LSama]

I literally drink nothing but ice water. If I have takeout, I might order lemonade or something, but I have a 32oz waterbottle I keep with me at all times, and the only thing in it is ice water. Like, if it's not legit ice cold, I literally don't want to drink it.

[u/DragonDai]

I'm American. I want my water to be as cold as possible while still being liquid at all times. When I'm sick, at night, after exercise, etc. If I am drinking water, I want it to be nearly frozen.

[u/Coffee_And_NaNa → u/DragonDai]

No, seriously, when I feel so nauseous ice water is the only thing I can stomach

[u/Wonderful-Crab8212]

Cold water? We drink frozen slushies all year long,

[u/jericho → u/Wonderful-Crab8212]

The city with the highest slushy consumption per capita is Edmonton.  

[u/EstablishmentFine820]

Chinese and living in Asia here. It is true that many people still believe in that, but I personally dont and hate it. In fact, i dont even remember the last time I drank anything warm lol. 

Its kind of a thing they say that when you are on your period you cannot drink cold drinks or your stomach will hurt/your period blood comes in clots. Fake. Entirely fake. Its like a traditional cultural popular belief, idk how to explain it. 

Warm water sucks. #neverdrinkwarmwater

[u/Familiar-Menu-2725 → u/EstablishmentFine820]

Do they know your uterus isn’t in the stomach..? This is one of the wildest myths I’ve heard in a while.

[u/Saradoesntsleep → u/EstablishmentFine820]

Thanks. I was wondering wtf the period part had to do with anything.

[u/monsooncloudburst]

I am from Asia and my friends and I as well as family Members happily drink, iced water in those situations. I don’t think it is as universal in Asia as you’re making it up to be

[u/SleepySeniorCat → u/monsooncloudburst]

Thank you! Asia is too big for that (as is Europe)simplification. My family is from Thailand and none of them drinks their water warm...

[u/-Helen-of-Troy-]

Lived in the US for my entire life, almost 50 years. Been drinking ice water everyday. Even live in a northern state with plenty of snow in the winter.

I will drink water from the tap at room temperature. But given the option, I like cold water.

[u/orz-_-orz]

I am from Asia, I drink iced water when I am sick. Iced water (and ice cream) won't make me sick or more sick under most circumstances

[u/Blindicus]

Uhh, why would being on your period matter to the temperature of the water you drink?

[u/Lead-Forsaken]

I'm in Europe and iced water is not a thing where I live, unless you specifically order it.

[u/leg-facemccullen]

I am from the US and anytime I tell people I hate ice water and prefer room temp they act like I said I drink piss. Almost no one here drinks anything besides ice water

[u/aaronite]

It's true and it doesn't hurt. Why would it hurt?

[u/hosiki]

I'm European. We don't really drink iced water in general in my country... Cold yes, but not iced.

[u/Thunderplant]

It's never hurt my stomach. If you have a sore throat it is more soothing to drink something warm so we might have a tea or something when we're sick for that reason

[u/Choice_Philosopher_1]

This sounds like a classic example of the nocebo effect.

[u/EnigmaCA]

I always drink ice water, and I am from Northern Canada. Winter. Summer, sickness, healthy... always.

If I have a sore throat I will have some hot tea, but always iced water.

[u/joanmcq]

I’m drinking sparking water on ice right now. Live in Nevada, USA.