How To Know If Too Much Ice Is Impacting Your Health?
Is too much ice in our drinks bad for our health? In the USA, there is a tendency to fill drinks of all kinds with ice. A lot of icy and sugary drinks can affect our liver function and general wellness. What can we do to help ourselves?
Table of contents
Do we drink too many icy drinks in the USA?
Tibetan Medicine suggests too many icy drinks or cold foods can affect our digestion in negative ways.
I discovered this recently after consulting with a Tibetan Dr for long-standing digestive issues.
In the past, I’ve written two other blog posts about gallbladder issues which are read quite often.
Until today I hadn’t followed up with any more blog posts on the results of my choice to select alternative ways of healing these issues.
Two other popular blog posts about liver health
Can a liver and gallbladder cleanse be a spiritual experience?
How can we make our livers happy? And what effect does a liver and gallbladder cleanse have on our health. It’s good to know there are other options than surgery if this interests you.
Hello gallbladder cleanse and helloooo emotions!
I’ve learned through experience that emotions can be unlocked from our muscles with a deep massage, or felt through our chakras during meditation. But stored and released from our organs? This one is a head trip, or more accurately a body trip. And if you suffer from gallbladder issues, some of the simple techniques in this post might help you.
My brain didn’t remember, but my gallbladder does.
Liver and gallbladder issues
I haven’t had regular gallbladder attacks in several years, following a program of liver and gallbladder cleanses as mentioned in the above post.
Under a doctor’s care, I did the cleanses regularly and avoided a gallbladder surgery.
It’s not widely known, but this type of surgery can leave people with some of the following side effects: –
- Regular bouts of diarrhea after eating fatty foods.
- Sore burned spots inside the small intestine when bile drips directly from the liver causing digestive discomfort. (This happens because the gallbladder’s job is to collect and store the bile until we eat something).
- Continued digestive issues, such as constipation, even though the gallbladder has been removed.
- A need to take supplements regularly to aid digestion, such as ox bile if a person’s bile production is low.
Of course, in some cases, it’s just best to remove a highly inflamed or dysfunctional gallbladder totally.
Knowing about possible side effects like those above can help us manage needed surgery.
Too much ice in our drinks?
I have still struggled with other digestive issues over the last few years, and so a few months ago grabbed the bull by the horns and went to see a Tibetan Doctor with a friend.
I had noticed for a while that she didn’t take any ice in any of her drinks on the advice of this doctor.
Tibetan Medicine is also known as ‘Sowa Rigpa‘ in the Tibetan language.
2,500 years of historical medical knowledge
The knowledge base of this type of person-centered medicine goes back over 2,500 years. (www.ncbi.nlm,nih.gov).
One of the first things that this doctor prescribed to improve my digestion was to stop taking too much ice in my drinks. In fact – he suggested no icy drinks at all.
What? I used to like cold drinks in the UK, but our idea of ice is different from the idea of ice in drinks in the USA.
A couple of cubes is ice in the UK!
In a restaurant in the USA, you and I know that two cubes will not cut the mustard. In the heat of the summer, or even in our iced coffee – we like lots of ice.
Since I’ve lived in the USA for over 16 years, I’ve pretty much got into the habit of grabbing my to-go drinks with lots of ice.
My prescription for digestive issues
In the extreme heat of a heatwave, it may seem like a great idea to knock back cold water or soda to feel that cooling sensation.
But what does it do to our digestion, and does it really cool us down?
The Tibetan view of medicine is that the liver and gallbladder need to be warmed for best digestion.
When I saw the Tibetan Doctor, amongst other things, he prescribed a diet which included: –
- boiled (warm) water to drink
- hot soups
- teas (and ‘never never’ coffee).
The result? My digestion is responding really well, moving faster and being much more functional.
Too much ice – effects on our digestion
Cold Beverages Slow Digestion
According to Susan E. Brown, PhD, cold foods and beverages slow down the rate of digestion because they must be “heated up” before proper digestion can take place. Cold beverages are removed from the stomach more quickly. Those at room temperature stay in the stomach longer. That is why marathon runners try to hyperhydrate and drink cold water before a race — to prevent from becoming dehydrated. Yet, if cold liquids move through at a fast rate, they do not aid digestion. (Livestrong.com).
If we are downing icy drinks all day, this is not good for helping our digestion stay stable and regular.
Perhaps it’s time to think about adding warm and hot drinks to your day.
I’ve also used these two Tibetan soup recipes, which I’ve shared with friends who have loved the warming results also.
Tibetan Soup Recipes are really good
Hot tea is very refreshing, even on a hot summer’s day.
Is it time for you to stop taking too much ice in your drinks?
Disclaimer: This blog post is not a recommendation for anyone else to take this approach. It is simply a diary entry for me on my Journey to health and wellness. If you already have experience of this cleanse then you will, I hope, enjoy my account of it. Anyone with gallbladder or liver issues should be under the care of a physician and take advice from them, not me. If you find this approach thought-provoking and want to consider trying it, then that is up to you and your free will. Always take the advice of a doctor first over anything you may read on the internet.
