Please Skip The Ice!
Why Cold Drinks and Raw Foods Can Slow You Down
On a hot day, nothing feels more refreshing than an iced latte or a smoothie packed with frozen fruit. I hear you! But if you’ve ever noticed that these “cooling” choices sometimes leave you bloated, sluggish, or even hungrier later, you’ve stumbled upon a truth that Chinese Medicine has been teaching for thousands of years: your digestive system just doesn’t love cold. Sorry.
Your Stomach Is Like a Stove
In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), digestion is often compared to cooking. Imagine you’re making soup: if the flame under the pot is strong, the food cooks easily. If the flame is weak, things stay raw and hard to digest.
Your stomach and spleen are like that stove. They need a steady, warm “fire” to break down food and turn it into usable energy. Now, what happens if you dump a big block of ice into that pot? The cooking slows down dramatically. That’s what iced drinks, smoothies, and raw foods do to your digestive system: they weaken the flame and make it harder for your body to process what you eat.
Ever get a brain freeze? The area at the top corner of your head where you feel that sharp sudden pain is actually an acupuncture point called Stomach 8—showing just how directly cold can shock the digestive system.
Why This Actually Makes Sense
Even outside of TCM, cold and raw foods can be tough on digestion:
Temperature matters: Your body has to work to warm up ice-cold liquids before it can absorb them. That’s extra energy spent on heating instead of digestion.
Raw food takes effort: Raw veggies and salads are full of fiber and nutrients, but without cooking, your body has to do more work to break down the tough plant cell walls. This is why some people feel gassy or bloated after a raw kale salad but fine after a bowl of vegetable soup.
Cold slows movement: Think about what happens when you’re cold—you tense up, circulation slows, and everything feels sluggish. Cold foods can have a similar effect on your gut, making things move more slowly.
Cold Affects More Than Digestion
In clinic, I often see patients who rely heavily on iced drinks, smoothies, and raw foods. They may feel they’re eating ‘healthy’ or ‘clean,’ and while these foods can have benefits, the constant cold intake isn’t doing their digestion or metabolism any favors. Over time, this doesn’t just weaken the gut—it often shows up as other symptoms, too:
Weight gain, bloating, loose stools, and fatigue: Signs that the Spleen Qi has weakened and isn’t transforming food efficiently.
Cold hands and feet, achy joints, or menstrual cramps: When cold settles in the body, it slows circulation and can lead to pain conditions, especially those that feel better with warmth.
Fertility challenges: In TCM, the uterus needs warmth for healthy implantation and menstruation. Too much cold food and drink can chill the womb and contribute to irregular cycles, painful periods, or difficulty conceiving.
Chronic mucus or dampness: Cold weakens the digestive “fire,” leaving food less fully processed. This can generate phlegm and dampness, which may show up as sinus congestion, brain fog, weight gain, or feeling heavy and sluggish.
Warm Wins
When you eat cooked or warm foods, you’re essentially giving your digestive system a head start. Soups, stews, stir-fries, and teas are “pre-digested” in a way—the cooking process softens food, unlocks nutrients, and keeps your stomach’s flame burning bright.
This doesn’t mean you can never eat a salad or enjoy a cold drink again. Some people naturally have stronger constitutions and can handle more raw or cold foods than others—this is one of the beauties of TCM, recognizing that every body is different. That said, most people tolerate these foods best in the warmer months, when the season itself supports cooling foods. However, if you notice any imbalances in your body such as bloating, pain, fatigue, or menstrual issues, it may be worth experimenting with warmer or cooked choices.
A Little Experiment
For one week, try this:
Replace iced drinks with room temperature or warm ones.
Choose soups, stir-fries, or steamed veggies over raw salads.
If you struggle with cramps or fertility challenges, keep your abdomen warm and swap cold smoothies for nourishing teas.
Chinese Medicine isn’t about rigid rules—it’s about noticing what helps your body thrive. By protecting your digestive “fire,” you may find that your energy improves, pain lessens, and your body feels more balanced overall.
