Hot drinks all round

The present study highlights important practical and methodological issues associated with the measured effect of drink temperature on thermal profile. Briefly, Bain and colleagues examined the heat storage responses of nine untrained males cycling at 50% VO2max for 75 min whilst consuming 3.2 mL kg�1 of one of four different temperature drinks (1.5, 10, 37 and 50 °C) every 15 min in temperate environmental conditions (23 ± 0.6 °C and 23 ± 11%). In contrast to thermometric measurements, where previous literature shows reduced heat strain with cold drink ingestion (Lee et al. 2008a,b), the present study suggests that an increase in body heat storage is incurred when heat storage was estimated using partitional calorimetry. They suggest hot fluid ingestion may mediate a supercompensatory thermo-effector response, in the form of a disproportionate increase in sweating, triggered by increased thermosensor input from the gut that may be responsive to beverages that are above resting deep body temperature. Consequently, fluid replacement guidelines could be amended to reflect this discrepancy as cold drinks may paradoxically increase the risk of heat illness in certain circumstances.