Do warm drinks actually warm you up when you're cold?
MINNEAPOLIS — Winter in Minnesota is also known by some as "soup season." For many of us, it's also prime hot chocolate or hot tea season.
But have you ever wondered if those warm drinks actually warm you up? An international expert says the answer may depend on when you drink.
"My daughter has discovered hot chocolate and when a 2-year-old discovers hot chocolate, you start to fall in love with hot chocolate again," Zach Johnson, a St. Paul dad, said.
Dr. Nathan Morris works at the University of Colorado and helped run an intricate study testing how body temperatures respond to hot liquids.
"So the answer is, it will depend on the situation you are in, but most of the time, no they (warm drinks) won't (warm you up)," he said.
Morris says if you are outdoors, water-based drinks or soups will stop the symptoms of cold, but not raise your actual body temperature.
"You drink hot water, your shivering reduces, your metabolic rate reduces, but your core temperature isn't affected. Our core temperature rarely changes," Morris said.
Morris says the warm liquids may bump up your temp a little if you drink them before you go outside and put your body in stress.
Still, an outdoor coffee has its perks.
"It makes you feel more comfortable, keeps you from shivering that is going to make you feel a lot better," Morris said.
Another perk of warm drinks or soup: If you eat them while outside, they can warm your hands which also helps stop shivering.
Morris has also done research on cold beverage and found they don't change core temperatures either.
