Does Tea Bring Your Temperature Down? The Surprising Science of Sweating

January 9, 2026 •

4 min read

According to a 2012 study published in Acta Physiologica, drinking a hot beverage can result in a lower amount of heat stored inside your body, provided that the increased sweat produced can fully evaporate. This fascinating mechanism provides a surprising answer to the question: does tea bring your temperature down?.

Quick Summary

The science confirms that drinking hot tea can induce a cooling effect through increased sweat production and evaporative cooling. This thermoregulatory response is most effective in dry climates and is a known cultural practice in many hot regions.

Key Points

Evaporative Cooling is Key: Drinking hot tea stimulates sweating, and the evaporation of that sweat from your skin is what creates the cooling effect.
Works Best in Dry Climates: The cooling from hot tea is most effective in hot, dry environments where sweat can evaporate quickly and easily.
Humidity Inhibits Cooling: In high humidity, sweat cannot evaporate effectively, so drinking hot tea will likely make you feel warmer instead of cooler.
Brain Response is Activated: Specialized nerve receptors in the mouth detect the heat, signaling the brain to turn on the body's natural cooling mechanisms.
Cold Drinks Have Less Sustained Effect: While cold beverages provide immediate relief, they can actually suppress sweating and are less effective for long-term cooling in dry heat.
Proper Hydration is Crucial: For sweating to work as a cooling method, the body must have enough fluid. It's important to stay well-hydrated by drinking plenty of water.

Understanding Your Body's Cooling System: Thermoregulation

Our body's ability to maintain a stable internal temperature is known as thermoregulation. In hot weather, one of the primary ways our body sheds excess heat is through sweating. As sweat evaporates from the skin's surface, it removes heat, creating a cooling effect. This process of evaporative cooling is the key to understanding how hot tea can have a surprising effect on your temperature.

How Hot Tea Triggers a Cooling Response

When you consume a hot beverage like tea, temperature sensors lining your mouth and upper digestive tract detect the heat. This information is relayed to the brain's control center for temperature, the hypothalamus, which then signals the body to initiate a cooling response. This response includes activating the sweat glands to increase sweat production.

The heat added by the cup of tea is relatively small compared to your body's total mass. The subsequent increase in sweat production and the cooling from its evaporation more than compensate for this minimal internal heat gain. The result is a net cooling effect, particularly when the conditions are right for efficient evaporation.

The Critical Role of the Environment

Whether hot tea successfully cools you down or makes you feel hotter depends critically on the environment. The process of evaporative cooling requires sweat to evaporate from the skin. If it cannot, the cooling effect is negated.

Dry, Arid Climates: These are the ideal conditions for a hot beverage to work as a cooling agent. In low humidity, the air can easily absorb moisture from your skin. The sweat produced in response to the hot tea quickly evaporates, carrying heat away from the body and creating a significant cooling effect. This explains why the practice is common in many hot, arid regions around the world.
Humid Climates: In areas with high humidity, the air is already saturated with moisture. This makes it difficult for sweat to evaporate efficiently. Instead of evaporating, sweat tends to simply drip off the skin, which provides very little cooling. In this scenario, adding heat from a hot drink without effective evaporative cooling can make you feel even more uncomfortably hot.

Hot vs. Cold Drinks: A Comparative Look at Cooling


Feature	Hot Tea	Iced Tea	Effective Environment	Why It Works
Mechanism	Promotes evaporative cooling by increasing sweat production.	Offers transient, direct cooling to the mouth and stomach.	Hot, dry climates.	The body's sweat response overcompensates for the initial heat gain, resulting in a net cooling effect.
Thermoregulation	Activates heat receptors (TRPV1) to signal the body to cool down.	Can slow down the body's natural sweating response.	Humid climates (best for perceived relief).	A cold shock can make the body believe it is cooler than it is, suppressing the most powerful cooling mechanism.
Perceived Effect	Initially feels warmer, followed by a sustained feeling of coolness.	Provides an immediate but short-lived cooling sensation.	Depends on individual preference and climate.	The perception of coolness is not always correlated with long-term thermoregulatory effectiveness.

The Importance of Hydration and Specific Teas

Regardless of the temperature, maintaining proper hydration is paramount to a functioning thermoregulatory system. For evaporative cooling to work, your body needs sufficient fluids to produce sweat. Although tea can be mildly diuretic due to caffeine, its hydrating properties still contribute to overall fluid intake, especially when consumed in moderation alongside water.

Certain herbal teas can offer additional benefits. Peppermint tea, for instance, contains menthol, which triggers a cool-sensing nerve receptor, providing a subjective feeling of coolness. Green tea also contains compounds that can aid in the body's cooling processes.

Practical Tips for Optimal Cooling with Tea

Sip, Don't Chug: Drinking your hot tea slowly allows the thermoregulatory process to begin gradually, preventing an uncomfortable initial heat surge.
Choose the Right Clothing: Wear light, loose-fitting, and breathable fabrics to allow for maximum sweat evaporation.
Be Mindful of Your Environment: Pay attention to the humidity. In very humid conditions, it may be better to opt for a room-temperature or cold beverage for comfort.
Listen to Your Body: Personal preference is also a factor. If the idea of a hot drink in the heat is simply unbearable, a cold beverage is a perfectly fine alternative. The most important thing is to stay hydrated.

Conclusion: The Nuanced Answer to a Simple Question

So, does tea bring your temperature down? The scientific answer is yes, under the right conditions. By triggering your body's natural, and most powerful, cooling system through sweat and evaporative cooling, hot tea can be a highly effective way to regulate your temperature in hot, dry weather. This method, which may seem counterintuitive, highlights the amazing efficiency of our body's thermoregulatory processes. While cold drinks offer a momentary fix, understanding the deeper science behind hot beverages reveals a more sustainable strategy for staying cool. The key is to remember the critical role of the environment, particularly humidity, and to ensure you remain well-hydrated throughout the process.

For further reading on the science behind how hot drinks cool you, a key study is available via The Conversation.

Frequently Asked Questions

The initial cooling effect begins as soon as the sweating response is initiated, but the sustained cooling is a gradual process. It depends on how quickly your sweat can evaporate, which is influenced by environmental conditions like humidity and airflow.

Tea contains caffeine, which is a mild diuretic. However, the fluid intake typically outweighs this effect. The key is to stay hydrated overall by drinking plenty of water, especially since increased sweating will cause you to lose more fluid.

Some herbal teas, like peppermint, contain compounds that create a cooling sensation. However, the core cooling mechanism is the body's reaction to the hot liquid itself, so any hot tea can trigger this response.

While the same thermoregulatory principles apply, you should consult a doctor if you have a fever. The focus should be on proper hydration and following medical advice, not just on using a cooling technique.

Yes, the thermoregulatory response is triggered by the heat of the liquid, not just the tea itself. Hot beverages like coffee or hot water will elicit a similar sweating and cooling response.

Many cultures in hot, arid regions have long practiced this for its effectiveness. In dry heat, the evaporative cooling from the sweat triggered by the hot tea is a very efficient way to regulate body temperature.

To maximize the effect of evaporative cooling, it is best to wear light, loose-fitting, and breathable clothing. This allows sweat to evaporate from your skin's surface rather than being trapped against your body.