Ice, ice, ice baby. Ice and cold beverages everywhere, from soda pop to ice chilled bottles of water. But actually, all that cooling effect is doing the opposite of cooling your body
It seems natural: ice cools. Heat heats. Counter intuitively, when your body drinks cold beverages, your stomach has to do the extra work to transform the water to a warm temperature. It sure feels good to drink when you’re sweaty and panting in the stage wings, but after that first sip, your already tired body is now working overtime.
In Chinese medicine, warm water and tea are consumed even in warm weather. The warmed liquid takes less effort to process through the body which makes your body more efficient. Cold water actually makes you sweat so by drinking cold water, you are going to be sweating through your tutu even more than usual.
Rather than taking a cold water bottle and cracking it open after the wings for a great big sip, try having a warming beverage such as jasmine green tea with goji berries berries added. The caffeine from the green tea will help with energy while goji berries are an antioxidant power punch for extra strength.
Another great drink to have for the power workout is a white tea (I like white peony) with lower caffeine than other teas with a light floral flavor. Try adding rosehips for Vitamin C power or calendula flowers for anti-inflammatory and pain fighting properties. My most simple go-to power drink of the day is warmed water with calendula flowers added for gentle warming and healing properties.
To truly get the benefits of hot water, you can try Chinese medicine practices such as drinking warmed water in the morning. For a history of the connection of drinking warmed medicine to health, see Culture Trip’s in-depth article: Why Do Chinese People Drink Hot Water
