During winter, many people swap fresh salads and sandwiches for soups and toasties to warm up, but can hot food really make a difference to our body’s temperature?
Gabrielle Maston, accredited and practicing dietitian and spokesperson for the Dietitians Association of Australia said hot meals can make a slight difference.
“Generally speaking, when we eat food we heat up because the body expends energy digesting food and some people, depending on how many calories they eat, they burn off more energy,” Mrs Maston said.
But she explained the temperature of the food is what causes people to feel warmth, which doesn’t last long.
“You can feel warmer from eating hot foods, but the heat may only last up to half-an-hour, to an hour, depending on what you've eaten,” Mrs Maston said.
According to the dietitian, caffeine and spicy food are examples of foods that can cause people to feel hot.
While this means hot meals may not replace the heater at home or help people to save on their energy bills, it can provide temporary warmth.
Although many people believe cooking hot meals can be time consuming, there are modern cooking appliances that can help.
An example is Breville’s The Perfect Press, which can help make cafe inspired toasties in no time.
Or there is Kambrook’s Soup 2 Simple Soup Maker that can cook soup in 30 minutes, combining food preparation and cooking.