Why does warm food and beverage feel more comfortable than just something in room temperature, even though we can burn our palate occasionally with that?

Question

Why does warm food and beverage feel more comfortable than just something in room temperature, even though we can burn our palate occasionally with that?

In: 17

Answer 1

Your core body temp is not room temp. Your body has to expend energy to heat your food once you eat it if it’s colder than core body temp.
This effect actually lead to some starvation deaths by US soldiers during the winter of the korean war, according to some reports. This is why most military rations either come with a small single use stove or a plastic bag and heating element that is activated by water.