Tea lovers are sometimes asked, 'How do you have your tea under a scorching sun?' Well, the answer could be out and simple; hot teas do not make you feel warm in summer. On the contrary, they may just be assisting you feel colder.
People who understand the body mechanism often see iced teas as a very ill-thought-of replacement for teas during the summer. The thought is also backed by traditional Chinese medicine experts who see stomach as a 'yang' organ. It means that it is hot and needs to be kept so in order for it to be working properly. Water, on the other hand, is 'yin', meaning cold. As your body needs to be in equilibrium of both the energies, having more water in summer should be balanced out with having more hot drinks.
Well, for the more science-based lot, there is, in fact, a scientific explanation to understand why one must still sip on their chai cuppas, be it summer or winter.
A fact: The maximum number of chai, or tea, drinkers belongs to tropical or desert regions. Many studies have started to emerge that say that one should actually not skip on their tea during hot weather. This is because they may help you cool down.
In 2012, a study was published by Ollie Jay which concluded that after the ingestion of warm drink by body, the overall heat storage in the body gets lowered after exercise as compared to the body temperature after having cool drinks.
The explanation for this phenomenon lies in the concept of sweating induced by tea or hot beverages. Once a person has tea, there is increased heat load in his body, making him sweat more. As a result of the increased sweat output, there is more sweat evaporation in the body, making it cool down. For a drink at 50?C, there is a 570ml sweat loss from the body, increasing heat loss due to evaporation and lowering body heat storage.
Ice will heat your body up
On the contrary, cold drinks or ice are known to have a warming impact on your body. In a second study by Jay, it was indicated that after ingesting ice, there was a reduction in heat loss from the body as a result of decreased sweat evaporation from the skin surface.
The changes in body temperatures are known to implicate endurance performance. As a result of this, having ice can negatively impact your performance as there would be an increase in body heat, making exercise harder.
So, tea lovers, rejoice. Anyone telling you to skip your cuppas during sunny days should be shunned.