Cold Water for Weight Loss?

I remember my dance instructor telling me once that chilled water makes one gain weight. So how does it spur weight loss?

It did sound like a joke to me in the beginning, but then I deliberately stumbled upon some facts. And a realization too- Cold Water does help one lose weight! It is proved that cold water revs up the metabolism and aids weight reduction.

The idea behind the weirdness is pretty simple; when our bodies are exposed to colder temperatures, both inside and the outside, it works to burn the calories to stay warm. It so happens that when you drink a glass of cold water, the body cobbles together to burn the calories to generate heat to nullify the effect of cold water.

The metabolic system maintains the temperature of our body by burning the piled up calories. A glass of cold water down and your body identifies the need to balance the temperature.

A lot of people find the technique irrevocably tempting. If it is as easy as shoving down a handful of glasses of cold water sans any rigorous workouts, who wouldn't do it? However, there are certain segments of people who shouldn't follow this. Have a look.

• For people suffering from cardio-vascular diseases, drinking cold water can muddy the troubled waters. It can lead to several complications in the patients.

• Cold water doesn't quite do the trick for the overweight lot. Compromising on junk food and exercising their way to shed pounds is the only way out.

Everything said and done, but then, does the trick really work?

The idea of losing weight through a few glasses of cold water couldn't have had more people go nuts over it. However, truth be told, the whole issue is blown out of proportion. Many researchers in fact have raised questions about the effectiveness of the trick. Many of them say that calories are burnt to stabilize the body temperature and don't aid weight loss as such.

On the contrary, researchers believe that people should consume hot or lukewarm water to keep their metabolism in check. Hot water ensures healthy digestion and cleanses body of all toxins. Combined with honey or lemon juice, hot water works wonders for weight loss.