Do you drink enough water?
Not really; that’s not a trick question. A lot of people just don’t. As much as your body needs water to live, it is rather boring compared to all the other possible taste sensations you could put in your mouth. So, a lot of people just skip it, hoping their bodies will extract it from the other beverages and foods they consume.
To some extent, your body is able to do this. But, it’s really not enough water to remain in peak condition, let alone achieve major health and weight loss goals.
Will Super Hot Sauce Help You Drink More Water?
When you’ve eaten something physically hot, you reach for a glass of water, right? Something needs to cool that burn, and unless you already have a beer in front of you, water is a strong bet.
But no one is going to tell you to reach for water when you’re eating chili peppers or super hot sauces. That’s because they’re not physically hot. There’s a whole reaction going on that makes you believe you’re hot without actually dealing with physical heat at all (except for the reactions occurring in your body).
And, the hot stuff in chili peppers isn’t water-soluble. So, you can’t dissolve the heat of super hot sauce with water; all you can do is spread it around. In principle, eating super hot sauce and drinking water shouldn’t have anything to do with one another.
But, most people are apt to drink something that doesn’t irritate them when they eat super hot foods. And, they’ll chug back great, big, hulking mouthfuls of the stuff… whatever it is.
Provided those incredible mouthfuls don’t include alcohol or coffee, you’ve probably just upped the amount of useable water in your body. What you drink will determine how much extra water you’re getting. Choosing water isn’t great for relieving the pain of super hot sauces, but it’s clearly what your body wants. And, reaching for skim milk instead of water is going to improve your water intake a great deal more than whole milk or a glass fresh from the cow.
Buying into the Super Hot Sauce / Water Intake Theory?
Really, there’s no science in this at all. But, people are creatures of habit and comfort. So, if you’re the kind of person that reaches for a beverage when you mouth is on fire… you can use it to drink more water if that’s what you’re after.
But, you probably don’t need super hot sauces to get this working for you. Milder sauces will still increase the perceived temperature of your mouth and get you reaching for that glass. And, if you’re used to consuming a lot of wildly hot foods, you won’t mind spreading around some of the milder ones. We’re not saying Mad Dog 357 Pure Ghost will satisfy you if you put Mad Dog on every other dish, but, something in the middle might.
Will it work? Not as well as forcing yourself to drink eight glasses a day, but eating hot sauce to make yourself reach for more water does have that flavor element you’ve been searching for, right?