Craving hot coffee or soup to warm up in cold weather? Be careful—you might end up feeling colder! A doctor points out that some seemingly warming drinks and foods actually have no real heating effect. He shares 5 major dietary secrets to warm you from the inside out, noting that simply timing your breakfast correctly can increase the warming effect.
Intensive care doctor Huang Xuan explains on his Facebook page that in cold weather, many people try to warm up through diet. The following 5 types of food may seem to warm the body but are actually deceiving the sensory nerves. Not only do they fail to truly ward off the cold, they might even make you feel colder:
- High-Sugar Hot Drinks (e.g., milk tea, sweet soups, brown sugar drinks): Cause rapid blood sugar spikes followed by sharp drops due to massive insulin release. The body misinterprets this as excess energy, lowering its own heat production efficiency and constricting peripheral blood vessels, leading to colder hands/feet and fatigue.
- Fried, High-Fat Foods (e.g., fried chicken, fries): Digesting fatty foods requires diverting a large amount of blood to the gastrointestinal system, increasing its burden and reducing blood flow to the skin and limbs.
- Alcoholic Beverages (e.g., tonic wines, soju): Cause superficial blood vessels to dilate, creating a sensation of skin warmth and flushed face. However, this actually accelerates the loss of core body heat through the skin, lowering core temperature and reducing cold resistance. This increases the risk of hypothermia for intoxicated individuals in winter.
- Spicy Numbing Foods (e.g., mala hot pot, very spicy sauces): The capsaicin in chilies doesn't raise body temperature. Instead, it stimulates pain and temperature receptors, tricking the brain into thinking the body is overheated, triggering sweating and vasodilation. Sweating speeds up heat loss from the skin surface, leading to fluid and electrolyte loss, which actually lowers core temperature.
- Hot Caffeinated Drinks (e.g., coffee, strong tea, energy drinks): While they provide a temporary mental boost and the cup feels warm, this is a sensory illusion, not actual increased body temperature. Caffeine is ineffective for warming because it:
- Constricts blood vessels, reducing blood flow to hands and feet.
- Has a diuretic and dehydrating effect, impairing temperature regulation.
- Creates false alertness, essentially透支 body energy and reducing sustained heat production. A common result is feeling warm initially but experiencing more pronounced chills and shivering 30-60 minutes later.
5 Major Dietary Methods for True Warmth & Cold Resistance
Huang states that the key to truly warming foods is not the instant heat upon entry, but enabling the body to produce heat steadily and sustainably. He outlines 5 dietary methods that help retain warmth and resist cold:
- Adequate Protein at Every Meal: The digestion and metabolism of protein have a higher Thermic Effect of Food (TEF), meaning consuming protein itself promotes body heat production. Choose eggs, tofu, dried tofu, fish, chicken, lean meat, unsweetened soy milk, and warm milk. The key is stable, regular intake in small amounts throughout the day, not overloading in one meal, to maintain warmth consistently.
- Choose Slowly-Releasing Starches: Feeling cold is often related to unstable energy supply. Starches that truly help resist cold are digested slowly, stabilize blood sugar, and don't cause fluctuating sensations. Recommended: brown rice, oats, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, taro, lotus root. Avoid sweets, refined white bread, and sugary hot drinks.
- Choose Non-Spicy Warming Spices: Examples include small amounts of ginger, scallions, garlic, and a dash of cinnamon. Their mechanism is entirely different from chilies. These spices gently promote blood circulation without causing excessive sweating or overstimulating pain nerves. Suggested use: steeping ginger slices in hot water, or drinking unsweetened, not-too-strong ginger soup. This achieves lasting, stable warmth without dissipating body heat.
- Focus on Food Temperature & Structure: Ideal warming meals typically include hot soup to maintain stable temperature, solid components to slow digestion, and are rich in protein for sustained heat production. Examples: vegetable soup with tofu and rice, de-fatted chicken soup with root vegetables, or miso soup with fish and brown rice. In contrast, just hot coffee, plain spicy soup, or only sweet soup cannot provide equally effective and lasting warmth.
- Eat at the Right Times for Better Warmth:
- Eating breakfast too late slows daytime metabolism.
- Eating dinner too little makes it easy for body temperature to drop at night.
- Prolonged fasting puts the body into energy-saving mode, reducing heat production capacity.
- Recommendation: Eat breakfast within 1-2 hours of waking up. Don't only eat vegetables for dinner. Feeling hungry before bed isn't a sign of strong willpower; it's a signal your body is struggling.
