Is drinking a cold drink during or after a meal actually bad for you?

Question

my dad believes everythingg he gets in his email, even the ridiculous stuff that you find in chain mail like "send this to 10 people and you'll get $100 in the mail".

he recently got this email that stated drinking cold beverages after or during a meal can increase your risk for cancer;

the email itself was very hard to understand, but this is what i got from it: "drinking cold water after or during a meal will solidify the oily stuff that you have just consumed and slow down the digestion. once this 'sludge' reacts with the acid, it will break down and be absorbed by the intestine, and very soon, this will lead to cancer."

is this at all true?

because it sounds pretty bizzare to me.

Answer 1

I'm with you on this one. I highly doubt it's true. After grease cools it will solidify anyway and then you stomach acid can break it down no matter it's consistancy.

I VERY highly doubt you will get cancer from it or anything even mild.

Answer 2

The only thing I've every been told is that cold water makes digestion more difficult, but I've never heard of a case of indigestion leading to cancer. I have a feeling if this was truly the case it would be mainstream news.

Answer 3

Not a chance in heck. Cancer has nothing to do with digestion, it occurs when the genetic information in cells becomes 'broken'; the affected cells start reproducing uncontrollably damaging surrounding tissue (and potentially entering 'metastasis' and spreading to a new area). This can be caused by exposure to certain viruses (HPV and cervical cancer for example), radiation, and some carcinogenic (cancer causing) chemicals.

Even the idea of it forming sludge is ridiculous: your body sits about 37*C (~98*F). Your body heats anything you consume to nearly ambient body temperature in a matter of seconds.