Wake up with a glass of water… hot

Some people are surprised when they discover that traditional Chinese medicine recommends drinking a glass of Hot water or warm fasting in the morning. This small ritual drains the kidneys, awakens the intestines and prepares the body for breakfast, the first meal after hours of inactivity.

The benefits of drinking hot water according to Chinese medicine

But why hot or warm and not cold or room temperature? If we look at Chinese cuisine, few recipes are raw and curiously the last dish is not the fruit, but a bowl of hot soup in order to settle the food better and promote digestion.

The colder the drink, the more heat the body must generate in order to warm it up and then absorb it. This act of heating makes the body work harder, so instead of cooling us down, the opposite effect is achieved: the body is heated to neutralize the cold temperature of the drink.

Drinking hot water relaxes and activates the chi (vital energy) from the inside, just as hot baths do the same from the outside.

improve your digestion

Hot ingredients are easier to digest and from being absorbed by the stomach than cold or raw food. It must be taken into account that the nature of heat is always relaxing, activating, it mobilizes the chi and also neutralizes the cold.

The digestive system is characterized by the movement of its digestive tube; if this system flows, everything flows. Heat is fluidity and has the capacity to heat and make muscles relax and don’t tense up. For this reason, after an intense day of work, if we take a hot bath, a soup or a steaming drink, we will relax.

A glass of lukewarm water every morning

A good way to start the day and gently wake up the body is make a mouthwash with lukewarm water so as not to irritate the gums (governed by the chi of spleen/stomach), nor the teeth (the teeth are extensions of bone that are identified with the chi of the kidney).

After rinsing, we will drink half a glass of hot-warm water in small sips. This will awaken the stomach chi to receive the first food of the day.

Drinking hot water or green tea during meals (in moderation) is also a good way to preserve good health. chi stomach, as it favors digestion and absorption. Hot water quenches thirst better.hydrates the oral mucosa and eliminates the sensation of dryness.

In case of sunstroke, you must spray the neck, back and forehead with hot or lukewarm water, with a gentle friction to open the pores and promote the elimination of heat accumulated in the skin. When we are cold, our extremities are cold or we are out of temper, the best way to activate the chi Internal treatment is to drink a glass of warm water and take foot baths in hot water, with a tablespoon of coarse salt, for about 20 minutes.

The 3 types of water in Chinese culture

The custom of drinking hot water originated in China as prophylactic measure against epidemics. The daily practice of drinking the tea generalized this custom used in traditional Chinese medicine, which sophisticated its use to unimaginable levels. In the same way that food is classified by its energetic nature, Chinese culture meets the same criteria with water.

In China it is distinguished between fresh, boiled and raw water.

He sweet water it can be boiled water or raw water (at room temperature). In turn, the boiled water It is divided into boiled water (hot in nature), warm boiled water (warm in nature, that is, warm boiled water whose temperature when drunk does not differ from one’s own body temperature) and cold boiled water (neutral in nature, which is cold water after being boiled). He raw water For its part, it is divided into cold water (of a cold nature, water without previously going through the fire) and frozen water (of a very cold nature, frozen and raw water).