Helpt het drinken van alcohol tegen de kou?

A mulled wine here, a drink there: during the cold winter months it is tempting to warm yourself up with an alcoholic drink. You will feel a pleasant warm glow through your body. Can we then conclude that drinking alcohol is a good warming agent? You read it here.

To get straight to the point: your body is fooling you. Or, no, it's the alcohol that's fooling you. Alcohol numbs, making your body more relaxed. This makes your blood vessels narrow less. This way your warm blood is more easily pushed towards your skin. The result? Flushing cheeks and a glowing sensation. A pleasant, but deceptive effect.

Deceptive, why?

Deceptive, because thanks to this entrainment you lose body heat faster to the cold outside air. And because alcohol is anesthetic, the cold signals no longer reach the brain. Because of the alcohol, the body reacts differently to cold and does not start with shivering or chattering teeth. In short: your body cools down faster, without you actually feeling it. Alcohol and cold is therefore far from a good combination.

Healthy warm holders

And now? Fortunately, there are also healthy ways - no fakers - to get and keep your body warm. We have listed a number of 'second best' options for you here.

-Eat a plate of warm food, this will increase the core temperature.

-The digestion process also makes your body warmer.

- Drink a cup of hot chocolate.

-Eat some soup.

- Make a big pot of tea.

-Creep on the couch close to your sweetheart.

With all the above scenarios you can think of a blanket, pillow, house suit and favorite Netflix series. Wonderful that winter!