What is the best way to quench your thirst in summer? Not iced cola, not water, but...

Summer is coming and the temperature is gradually rising. In the hot weather, many people want to have an iced drink to quench their thirst.

When it comes to "thirst quenching" and "iced drinks", many people's first reaction may be to have a bottle of ice cola. The first sip of ice cola is always so satisfying. But what you may not know is that the most thirst-quenching drink is not actually ice cola.

What is the best drink to quench your thirst in summer? Let’s find out in one article today.

Too long to read

The most thirst-quenching and longest-lasting beverages are: skim milk, oral rehydration salts, and whole milk.

Although iced carbonated drinks may make people feel more thirst-quenching, the above three can keep water in the body longer.

In addition, water is still the healthiest drink, and it is recommended that you drink water regularly and in a fixed amount . However, if you sweat a lot after exercise, or if it is inconvenient to drink water or go to the bathroom for a period of time, you can consider the three thirst-quenching and "water-storing" drinks mentioned above.

Iced carbonated drinks

Thirst quenching cheat tool

In fact, it is not entirely unreasonable that everyone’s first reaction is iced cola.

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Iced carbonated drinks to quench your thirst

Studies have shown that ice and carbonation can effectively relieve thirst. For this study, the researchers sought 98 subjects aged between 20 and 50, including 58 women and 40 men. These subjects could not eat or drink water for 12 hours before the start of the trial and were in good health, without taste or smell defects, and without diseases that would affect taste and fluid intake.

At the start of the trial, the subjects were weighed and then ate a standardized breakfast consisting of white bread toast with jam, which was designed to further increase the feeling of thirst.

Next, the subjects will start the experiment:

Rest for 30 minutes

Drink 400 ml of the test drink (20-22°C room temperature water, 6°C ice water, 6°C iced sparkling water) within 5 minutes

Rest for 5 minutes

Unlimited room temperature water to drink until you feel like drinking more

Researchers measured and recorded how much room-temperature water people drank

(Note: A type of sparkling water sold locally that contains only water and carbon dioxide has a carbon dioxide content of 8 grams per liter.)

The results showed that people who drank iced sparkling water first drank the least room temperature water afterwards, followed by ice water, and finally room temperature water. This shows that iced sparkling water is the best for relieving thirst, followed by ice water, and room temperature water is the worst.

RT-20-22°C room temperature water, Cold-6°C ice water, Cold carb.-6°C iced sparkling water.

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Iced carbonated drinks, you drink too much without realizing it

The researchers also found that drinking from a sippy cup could reduce the effect of perceived liquid weight.

The researchers asked the subjects to drink from a straw cup without using their hands, and then asked them to estimate how much they drank. The results showed that those who drank iced sparkling water estimated that they drank 22% more than those who drank room temperature water.

The dashed line represents the actual volume of fluid ingested, and the rectangle represents the estimated volume of fluid ingested by the subjects.

Researchers believe that when we drink water when we are thirsty, cold or mild stimulation can enhance the "drink water" signal transmitted to the brain, thereby affecting the amount of water we drink.

Ice water can stimulate throat receptors, increase or amplify the signals sent to the brain, and trick the brain into thinking that enough water has been drunk.

Not only can the physical sensation of cold quench thirst, but the chemically induced sensation of cold in the mouth and licking a piece of ice have similar effects. In addition, carbonation further enhances the thirst-quenching properties of ice water, because carbon dioxide intensifies the iciness and stimulation of cold water, strengthens the drinking signal transmitted to the brain, and the amount of liquid felt is also "amplified".

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Is this kind of “deception” harmful?

For most people, drinking iced carbonated drinks does not lead to a large amount of water loss, so the "deceptive" nature of this drink is not a problem. However, for people who are dehydrated, drinking iced carbonated drinks is not a good thing.

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When the body is dehydrated, thirst is a protective mechanism that activates the brain's "drink water when thirsty" mechanism to replenish the water needed by the body. Although iced mineral water, purified water and carbonated drinks can also replenish water, they actually exaggerate the "replenishment" effect, causing the brain to mistakenly think that it has drunk enough and stop replenishing water, so they are called "cheating tools" for quenching thirst.

Thirst-quenching drinks that keep water in the body

When we are thirsty and want to drink water, we need to consume enough water to restore the osmotic pressure of the blood.

Therefore, drinks that keep our bodies hydrated longer can quench our thirst more effectively, especially when we can’t drink water or go to the bathroom in time.

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The “water storage” capacity of beverages

In order to measure the ability of a beverage to replenish the body with water, researchers have proposed a new indicator - Beverage Hydration Index (BHI). This indicator stipulates that the BHI of plain water is 1, and other beverages are compared with plain water. The calculation method of BHI is the ratio of the cumulative urine volume after drinking a certain amount of plain water and other beverages in a fixed time, that is, BHI = cumulative urine volume after drinking a certain amount of plain water in a fixed time / cumulative urine volume after drinking a certain amount of a certain beverage.

Although the water content of different beverages is different, if we only compare the effects of different beverages on the water content in the body, the uncorrected values ​​are more valuable for reference.

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Which is the most effective hydrating drink?

The researchers recruited 86 subjects and tested the hydration effects of 13 common beverages (including water, sparkling water, cola, diet cola, sports drinks, oral rehydration salts, orange juice, lager, hot black tea, iced black tea, coffee, whole milk and skim milk) on the human body.

The results showed that oral rehydration salts, whole milk and skim milk were the most effective in rehydrating, while lager and coffee caused a dehydrating effect.

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Factors Affecting the Water Storage Capacity of Beverages

Factors that primarily influence fluid balance in the body within hours of beverage ingestion include macronutrient content, electrolyte content (especially sodium and potassium), and the presence of diuretics (primarily caffeine and alcohol).

High energy drinks

Drinks with high energy content will empty more slowly than drinks without energy, so the rehydration effect will be prolonged accordingly. In addition to a high BHI, other factors such as electrolytes and alcohol can also have a positive impact on high energy content. For example, whole milk (640 kal/L), orange juice (470 kal/L), cola (420 kal/L), skim milk (350 kal/L), and beer (330 kal/L) are all high-energy drinks, but their BHI values ​​are not consistent. It is worth noting that drinking milk as water can lead to weight gain.

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Drinks high in electrolytes

Both oral rehydration salts and milk contain high concentrations of sodium and potassium, which can help retain water in cells and reduce urine production, thereby achieving the effect of rehydration.

Oral rehydration salts have fewer calories than milk, but may not taste as good. They are a good choice if you are dehydrated due to vomiting, diarrhea, or strenuous exercise.

Although cola and orange juice have high energy density or potassium, they have high sugar content and are not very effective in replenishing water. Sports drinks usually contain sodium and potassium and are effective, but you need to be careful when purchasing them, because some sports drinks do not contain electrolytes, but instead add a lot of sugar, which greatly reduces the effect.

Drinks containing diuretics

Everyone knows that beer and coffee have diuretic effects, which is because they contain alcohol or caffeine. It should be noted that the degree of diuretic effect depends on the alcohol concentration and the amount of coffee consumed. If you only drink a can of low-alcohol beer or a cup of coffee, the effect is actually not significant. However, if you drink a glass of white wine or a few large cups of coffee, it may cause the body to lose too much water.

How about it, do you know how to choose the most thirst-quenching drink this summer?
Remember to freeze it in advance, the thirst quenching effect will be better~

Planning and production

Author: Gu Zhongyi, Director of Beijing Nutritionist Association, Registered Nutritionist

Review | Ruan Guangfeng, Deputy Director of Kexin Food and Health Information Exchange Center

Editor: Zhong Yanping

Proofread by Xu Lailinlin