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Imagine it is winter time with falling snow. It is
freezing cold out there but you still go out for a
walk. And there you are walking alone in the park while
enjoying the scenery.
It's nice isn't it? But wait. Did I say that you're
naked? Yes, naked!
How would you feel walking outside at zero degrees
Celsius, naked? I bet you would shiver madly. You can't
walk properly. You can't even talk properly! And you
body feels numb.
That's not very nice, isn't it? Well, put on your cloth
and sweater now. Go back to your house. Sit near a fire
side and have a cup of hot coffee.
Feeling better? After half an hour, you will feel
normal again. Great! Now take off all your cloth and go
outside again for a walk!
Hey, Stop it! Why torture me like this?
Good question. Actually, that's the question your stomach asks you while you're enjoying a glass of ice drink.
You see,
most people prefer having an ice drink especially in
hot summer days. Ice Coca-Cola, ice lemon tea and fruit
smoothies are among the favorites.
But do you know that while you're enjoying your ice
drink, your stomach is crying like hell! Why?
Your stomach is lying inside your body, naked. And you
just pour in gulps and gulps of ice water at near
freezing temperature. It shivers. No sweater. No fire
side.
It cannot do its work, which is digesting the food you
take in. There are different types of enzyme in your
stomach to help digestion. At below 10 degrees Celsius,
those enzymes cannot do anything. So your food just
sits there in your stomach.
And what happens next?
Now that your stomach is freezing, it will draw in heat
from other organs such as liver and kidney. After 10 to
30 minutes, your stomach finally gets warmed up and
reaches 37 degrees Celsius, which is your optimum body
temperature.
At last, it can carry on with its digestion work. But
guess what happens? You take in a few more gulps of ice
water again!
Immediately, your stomach temperature drops to below 10
degrees Celsius again. It is helpless. But do you hear
your stomach shouting, "Hey! Stop it! Why torture me
like this?"
What happens when you torture your stomach like that?
Your digestion slows down significantly. If your food
stays too long in your stomach, it will undergo
fermentation process. This causes burping.
Beneficial nutrients will also reduce. And after a
prolong time, you may get heartburn when gastric acid
flows upward. It may even damage your vocal cord!
You will worsen it if you take spicy food and ice drink
alternatively. When spicy food goes in, your stomach
expands. But when ice drink goes in, your stomach
contracts. The continuous stomach expansion and
contraction is really damaging.
Your stomach couldn't stand it. And for a prolong time
of torture, you may get all sorts of stomach problem
including stomach cancer.
Does this mean you cannot take any ice drink? Well, it's best if you can avoid ice drink. However,
taking it once a while is okay. If possible, leave some
time gap between your meal and ice drink. The longer,
the better.
Remember to take care of your stomach. You only have
one.
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