The ice-water diet
Anything that goes into your body is going to have to be heated up to the core body temperature. If it didn’t we’d be peeing icicles after drinking a nice glass of ice water. Not a pleasant thought. Anyway I digress from the point. If weight loss is the goal, ice-water will be part of the ticket.
It takes one Calorie (kilo-calorie actually) to raise the temperature of 1 kilogram of water 1 degree Celsius.
Let’s figure out exactly what you’re burning when you drink a 24-ounce glass of ice water (my water bottle):
- For arguments sake let’s estimated the ice water at 5 degrees Celsius.
- Body temperature can be estimated at 37 degrees Celsius.
- It takes 1 calorie to raise 1 gram of water 1 degree Celsius.
- There are approx 710 grams in 24 fluid ounces of water.
So in the case of a 24-ounce glass of ice water, your body must raise the temperature of 710 grams of water from 5 to 37 degrees C. In doing so, your body burns 22,720 calories (710 cal * 37-5 degrees C). But that’s calories with a little “c.” Your body only burns 22.7 Calories (kilo-calories), like the calories that you eat and are used to calculating.
Now, 23 calories is not going to make or break me – but I drink that size of water bottle about 5-8 times a day. So I can burn off up to an extra 200 Calories a day! By comparison it takes about 200 calories to walk 2 miles at a 6mph pace (which is a really fast walk or slow jog). Now again, if I’m eating out of control and not exercising, that 200 calories is not going to do me any good in the weight loss department. But added to a health regiment it is just one more bonus to help put you over the top on battling the bulge.
Not bad for just drinking water – and you had to do that anyway! Keep drinking (water that is) and keep losing weight!
PS, and no – it does not negate calories out of icecream. Not enough to give you an excuse to eat more anyway. 1 spoonful is about all the heat requirement would save you. Too bad.
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[...] Original post by Stearmer [...]