According to this supposed medical warning, drinking cold water after a meal can cause cancer. The warning claims that cold water will solidify oily content in the food and this solidified content will line the intestines and ultimately lead to cancer.
However, I have found no credible evidence to back up these claims. There is no mention of a connection between drinking cold water and cancer on the National Cancer Institute website or in other reputable cancer health resources. Nor have I discovered any news reports about such a connection. If the information in the message were true, it would almost certainly be well documented by both the medical establishment and the
Claims that drinking cold water after a meal can cause cancer are unfounded
media. It is a very common practice to consume cold water or other cold beverages at mealtime.
Claims that drinking cold water after a meal can cause cancer are unfounded
Therefore
any connections between cold water and cancer would have long since been extensively studied and reported.
As is common with such "warnings", the message contains no external references to back up its far-fetched claims.
Besides, the conclusions in the message are logically flawed. The stomach's natural heat will bring all contents to a uniform temperature soon after eating. Even ice-cold water would not stay cold long enough inside the stomach to actually "solidify the oily stuff". Moreover, according to BBC Science and Nature:
As soon as food enters your stomach, your stomach lining releases enzymes that start breaking down proteins in the food. Your stomach lining also secretes hydrochloric acid, which creates the ideal conditions for the protein-digesting enzymes to work.
This chemical break down, along with rhythmic muscular contractions, turns all of the stomach's contents into a thick semi-liquid mass called chyme and moves it into the duodenum, the first section of the small intestine. Thus, even if cold water did solidify oily substances in the stomach contents (highly improbable), the resulting "sludge" would soon be converted into chyme and it would not enter the duodenum more rapidly than any other material.
Some sources do claim that cold water can slow digestion. However, even if this slowing did occur, it would certainly not fundamentally disrupt digestion in the way described in the message nor would it lead to cancer.
Thus, it is perfectly safe to drink cold water with or after your meals and this nonsensical warning should not be forwarded.
