Winter temperatures are biting, which may leave you reaching for a hot chocolate to warm up. But could these warm drinks actually cause you to cool further?

When the chill sets in there are a number of ways to stay warm. One way supposedly is to intake hot drinks. The truth is that sufficient hydration is key to maintaining good health whatever the weather. Lack of water results in headaches, tiredness, and exhaustion.

Warm drinks raise your internal body temperature, as this rises it causes you to sweat in an attempt to cool the body down causing more issues on a dull, dark day.

Don’t think that alcohol can warm you up on a chilly night either. Alcohol acts as a vasodilator. Put simply this means the more you drink, the more blood vessels in the skin dilate, moving blood away from our core to the surface of our skin.

The temperature of your body is not changing, it is just being redistributed. Reach for that nice thick blanket instead.