No cold water with meals?

Q. I would be interested in your comments re the information attached, I believe it to have no scientific proof and to be both alarmist and misleading. Enjoy all that you talk about. It seems to be sound common sense and I use it a lot as one of the coaches for the Spanish National Flat Green Bowling Squad. Ruth

(Ruth had attached an article stating that we should drink warm water with meals because cold water “will solidify the oily stuff you have just consumed. It will slow down the digestion. Once this “sludge” reacts with acid it will break down (and) this will turn into fats and lead to cancer”).

A. Hola Ruth. Gracias para su pregunta. The article would have to be have written by someone who doesn’t understand digestion. Sadly, information given out by multilevel (or network) marketing companies is rarely based on science. They often provide misinformation to imply that a certain product they sell is required.

Once food is swallowed it quite quickly tends towards body temperature. Drinking cold water can be useful in hot weather as it helps cool the core body temperature. All the same, it too will get close to body temperature over a relatively short time. All fats and oils will generally be liquid at body temperature. Oil doesn't turn to fat. Oil is fat, 100% fat, by definition.

Humans have always done the smart thing - drinking warm fluids in cold weather and cool fluids in hot weather. Both hot and cool drinks are consumed around the world. Very hot drinks are linked to a mild increase in oesophageal erosion and possible throat cancer. I mean very, very hot. Cold water is not linked to cancer.