Last summer, I went to the Kashmir great lakes trek. It was very windy and very cold (yeah, even in summer). To combat the cold, we gulped down some brandy before sleeping. We were under the impression that alcohol gives you warmth. Well, at least that’s what they show in the movies, and I did feel warm after drinking. I wanted to get to the bottom of why we get that feeling of warmth after consuming alcohol, and does that really heat up our body? Spoiler alert - No! It does not. On the contrary, it makes you colder.
Alcohol is a vasodilator. It causes your blood vessels to dilate, allowing more blood to flow to the skin. Thermosensitive neurons on the skin register this increased blood flow as a rise in temperature, hence the warm feeling. The blood from your core is being diverted to the outside, so even if you feel warm temporarily, it’s actually making your core (and your vital organs) colder! Alcohol also acts as a diuretic; it’ll make you pee. The more water you lose, the more prone you would be to hypothermia. So the next time you think about drinking in the cold, remember, you’re only turning yourself into a radiator!