h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I've never understood drinking hot coffee when the temperature is in the 90s or 100s (F of course!)...

In the southern USA, folks often drink Coke with breakfast instead of coffee - a habit they then carry over to other regions of the USA so they can receive lots of strange looks.

In my 33rd year, I finally began drinking hot beverages on occassions other than when my body temperature was low. I've always been a big fan of iced coffee and iced tea - but never could get the hang of drinking a hot liquid except when I was chilled to the bone.

I finally started because I grew weary of the strange looks and soda in the morning isn't a great way to keep slender. Black coffee and tea however work the trick of the jolt of caffeine without all the sugar so I've converted to the ranks of the hot beverage drinkers. Though I'll still happily swallow a cup of cold coffee.

Can any of you hot beverage fans explain yourself?

I'm not really a hot drinks fan, but I think I can explain...

When you drink a hot drink, what does it do? It heats up your body - which your body immediately counteracts. Your body actually cools itself down, and this effect lasts longer than the heat from the drink, resulting in you being that little (but significant) bit cooler.

That's the theory, anyway...

Does it actually work?

I mean if you have a hot drink on a hot day, do you really feel cooler?

So hot drinks make you sweat. That is how the body cools down, right? This works fine where humidity is low but I'd rather drink cold water on a hot day, thus cooling me down and providing the raw material for the body to make sweat when it heats up again.

No, it's nothing to do with sweating, as far as I remember. It's about the transfer of the heat from the drink to you body, which then has to cool down. I suspect the 'thermostat' for your body is a little like the one for any central heating or fridge - in that it doesn't stop heating/cooling the instant it reaches the right temperature. It seems to *keep* heating/cooling for a while afterwards, and keep the temperature within an 'envelope'. If the temp drops below the lowest acceptable temp, the body starts heating. If it gets above the highest acceptable temp, it starts cooling. So the cooling effect you get after a hot drink should last longer than just normalising your body temperature. But I'm not a biologist, so don't quote me on any of this.

Jimi: I don't think I've ever had a hot drink on a hot day, so I can't say one way or the other...

Still looking for an answer then...