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In general, I like to drink water that I consider cool. However my parents keep forcing me to drink warm (and sometimes hot) water as they said it is better for me.
Their reasoning was that cold water would 'freeze' up the fat consumed in my body, causing blockages. Additionally they said cold water will induce my body to produce more stomach acid.
What is the lowest temperature that is safe to drink for everyday consumption? Of course I don't want to drink freezing cold water.
1. Freezing cold (4 °C) beverages do not increase the secretion of the gastric acid more than lukewarm or hot beverages, according to this study:
McArthur KE et al, Gastric acid secretion, gastrin release, and gastric emptying in humans as affected by liquid meal temperature (PubMed).
Coffee (360 mL) was infused into the stomach through a nasogastric tube at 58 (steaming hot), 37, or 4 degrees C (ice cold). Intragastric temperature, measured by an intragastric temperature sensor attached to the nasogastric tube, returned to body temperature 16.7 +/- 2.7 min after the hot meal and 23.8 +/- 1.1 min after the cold meal. Gastric acid secretion increased after hot, warm, and cold coffee but the initial temperature of the meal had no effect on gastric acid secretion.
2. Cold beverages slow down stomach emptying, that is passing of food from the stomach into the small intestine, according to this study:
Collares EF et al, 1981, Gastric emptying in children. I. Influence of the temperature of a hydration solution for oral use (PubMed)
Each baby had measured its gastric emptying for two different temperature solutions, approximately 27 degrees C and 4 degrees C, room and cold temperature...The results showed a significant larger gastric retention for low temperature one.
This suggests that drinking cool water after the meals can slow down the digestion a bit and possibly cause an uncomfortable feeling of prolonged stomach fullness. This could be what the OP's parents referred to as "blockage."
As mentioned in the first study above, freezing cold (4 °C) coffee changes to the body temperature in about 20 minutes after it reaches the stomach, so it should not "freeze" the fats in the same sense as it can on the plate.
In conclusion, from the limited evidence presented above, it seems that cool water drunk with meals might cause some stomach discomfort after the meals. Someone would need to be quite observant to become aware of such feelings.
No, drinking cold water will not freeze the "oil" (?) in your body, and will not cause any blockage.
However, freezed ultra cold water (salted water or alcohol can reach -15°C and stay liquid), can cause cold "burns" (not sure of the word, but it harms your skin anyway), just like winter burns on your hand if you play too long with snow.
This is part of the human thermoregulation process, which is done (in part) by the hypothalamus (a part of the brain, grossly).
Concerning your stomach, I cannot say if it will produce more acid or anything due to cold water consumption. However, any water consumption will tend to dilute the secretions, making digestion a bit longer.
If you want to know how your body can produce heat, it can simply be by burning fat or activating muscles (this is also the reason why you shake tooth in freezing cold outside temperature).
It is said that drinking cold water right after a meal can lead you to indigestions.
This happens because the body focuses the majority of our blood to the digestive system. Then as a consequence there is less blood in the brain during this process, and that's why we are tired and sleepy after we ate.
Drinking cold water can dramatically block the digestive process by shrinking the abdomen vessels, thus blocking the whole blood flow, causing you to faint.
