Researchers have found that cold drinks can increase anxiety and disrupt sleep patterns

That's the conclusion scientists from San Diego State University (SDSU) came to after conducting a study of more than 400 adults of Asian and European descent in the US.

The findings, published in the British Journal of Nutrition, showed that cold drinks in the summer were associated with higher levels of anxiety, sleep disturbances and feeling full to the stomach - especially in Asian participants. In contrast, white participants who favoured warm drinks in winter reported lower levels of depression, better sleep and fewer digestive problems.

"Something as mundane as the temperature of food and beverages can really affect health," notes lead study author Tianying Wu, assistant professor of epidemiology at SDSU.

This is the first study in the U.S. to directly link food temperature and health outcomes. It offers a new direction in preventing common problems such as anxiety, insomnia and digestive disorders.

The study partly confirms the approaches of traditional Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine, which have warned for decades about the harms of excessive consumption of cold food and drinks. This is especially true for people with "cold hands," a symptom that may suggest poor circulation.

Participants of Chinese descent, who were less likely to consume cold food and drinks, showed the fewest negative effects. In contrast, stronger links between cold diets and poorer health were observed among Indians.

"This study provides the first insight into how temperature-related dietary preferences may affect health," Wu emphasises. - The next step should be to conduct more rigorous clinical and interventional studies. It is especially important to study the effects of food temperature on the elderly and people with circulatory disorders, who may be particularly sensitive to cold."