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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think cold food is just as nutritious and filling as hot?

95 replies

TropicofCapricorn · 16/04/2025 10:37

People seem to think that hot food for meals is inherently better than cold?

If I served my daughter cold chicken pesto pasta and some salad for dinner, some people look at me "aren't you giving her a proper meal?". Bit of id given her the pasta hit and with peas or something, they wouldn't bat an eyelid.

You see it on MN too, somehow people think a hot meal is more filling?

Is there any truth in that?

I'm of the opinion a cheese sandwich is the same nutritionally and as filling as a cheese toastie.

OP posts:
Original poster
TropicofCapricorn · 16/04/2025 19:51

cardibach · 16/04/2025 19:22

Why would you think hot food would be different? What about soup? Why wouldn’t a nit steak be as warming as a hot tea?

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Because I don't think it's as quickly absorbed so the temperature goes down quicker than tea for example.

OP posts:
Allthesnowallthetime · 16/04/2025 19:25

I agree that there's probably not much nutritional difference between the same food served hot or cold.

But personally I find hot food more comforting. I don't like the texture of cold rice or pasta. Slimy and weird!

Food isn't just about nutrition.

cardibach · 16/04/2025 19:22

TropicofCapricorn · 16/04/2025 19:08

That's hot drinks... We're talking about food.

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Why would you think hot food would be different? What about soup? Why wouldn’t a nit steak be as warming as a hot tea?

BlackCoffeeAndSugar · 16/04/2025 19:21

Cold pasta actually might be more healthy, something to do with insulin resistance.

cardibach · 16/04/2025 19:21

TropicofCapricorn · 16/04/2025 17:54

I don't think it does 🤣

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So why is it that you say it’s more satisfying? Because you agreed it was earlier.

cardibach · 16/04/2025 19:19

TropicofCapricorn · 16/04/2025 17:30

Yes they do! Already in this thread people have asserted hit food is better...

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They’ve asserted it’s more satisfying. Not that it’s more nutritious.

cardibach · 16/04/2025 19:17

ItGhoul · 16/04/2025 14:39

'Satisfaction' and 'nutrition' are two different things. Food can provide you with plenty of calories, vitamins and minerals without leaving you feeling satisfied. Satisfaction is mostly psychological. Nutrition is physical.

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But isn’t satisfaction something you aim for when feeding people you love? As well as nutrition, obviously.

Original poster
TropicofCapricorn · 16/04/2025 19:08

BangersAndGnash · 16/04/2025 18:23

Mountain Rescue Teams use warm drinks to gradually warm up bodies of people with hypothermia. Doctors tell freezing pensioners who can’t afford heat to have regular hot drinks.

People drink iced drinks in the heat to cool them down.

But hey…

However of course cold food is as nutritious as hot and a perfectly good meal for people in normal conditions.

Edited
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That's hot drinks... We're talking about food.

OP posts:
EmmaWoodhouseOfHighbury · 16/04/2025 19:00

SeaShellsSanctuary1 · 16/04/2025 10:47

I imagine it's because warm food actually warms the body and and a cold body temperature is not particularly healthy

You're confusing the OP with a reptile.

0ohLarLar · 16/04/2025 18:29

My house is warm, i am able to comfortably afford the heating so I don't have a need for a hot meal to warm me up. From a scientific perspective i do not believe cooked food has any more nutrients in it. If anything less as i think cooking can denature some vitamins etc

However, i think possibly cooking food makes it easier to chew and digest and thus access what nutrient it has? If that is true, possibly you may use less energy digesting well cooked food. Heating milk for example can make it more easily digested. So if you are trying to maximise energy yield cooking food might do that.

BogRollBOGOF · 16/04/2025 18:26

If I have a hot drink, I'm normally taking a layer off within 5 minutes as I've warmed up.

Hot drinks are recommended to raise core temperatures after cold water swimming and stop the after drop. A cold drink of squash won't have the same effect as a hot drink of squash but the nutrition content is the same.

Hot food has the same effect.

I tend to have 3 hot meals (or some components of e.g. cooked fish served hot with salad) most days. Eggs are quick, light and a great way to start the day.

BangersAndGnash · 16/04/2025 18:23

TropicofCapricorn · 16/04/2025 17:54

I don't think it does 🤣

Show quote history

Mountain Rescue Teams use warm drinks to gradually warm up bodies of people with hypothermia. Doctors tell freezing pensioners who can’t afford heat to have regular hot drinks.

People drink iced drinks in the heat to cool them down.

But hey…

However of course cold food is as nutritious as hot and a perfectly good meal for people in normal conditions.

Changeissmall · 16/04/2025 18:11

I’ve never understood the hot meal thing. I like most of my food at room temp. Even things like spaghetti Bol or curry.
I make up for it with litres of scalding tea.

Original poster
TropicofCapricorn · 16/04/2025 17:54

miraxxx · 16/04/2025 17:43

It warms you up!

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I don't think it does 🤣

OP posts:
Original poster
TropicofCapricorn · 16/04/2025 17:53

FreddoSwaggins · 16/04/2025 17:39

Yes - we need to know, are you feeding your daughter in front of an observation gallery with an open polling platform going?

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Yes, yes I am, they have scored board and everything marking me out of 10. It's like the Olympics and I get gold every day, because I am perfect.

OP posts:
miraxxx · 16/04/2025 17:43

TropicofCapricorn · 16/04/2025 10:59

But why is hot food better in the winter?

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It warms you up!

miraxxx · 16/04/2025 17:42

TropicofCapricorn · 16/04/2025 17:30

Yes they do! Already in this thread people have asserted hit food is better...

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Pre-refrigeration, cooking and thus still hot food was a better guarantor of healthy food with less bacteria. This still holds true when you are travelling through poorer parts of the world. We hold on to a lot of habits because they were crucial to our safety in the past.

FreddoSwaggins · 16/04/2025 17:39

hestkuk · 16/04/2025 16:41

Yes, I also wanted to know who it was who was judging the OP.
Are they real or imaginary?

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Yes - we need to know, are you feeding your daughter in front of an observation gallery with an open polling platform going?

miraxxx · 16/04/2025 17:36

ItGhoul · 16/04/2025 14:43

TCM and Ayurveda aren't scientifically valid.

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To about 2 billion people who believe in Ayurvada and TCM, food is medicine and they eschew even drinking cold water. I dont believe that TCM or ayurveda is evidence based medicine but I think that these ideas as long as they pertain to food are harmless and even promote mindfulness when it comes to a healthy diet.

TheFatCatsWhiskers1 · 16/04/2025 17:35

Hot vs cold never even occurred to me until a friend said she didn't 'do' cold food and has to have three hot meals a day. A hot breakfast isn't appealing to me at all, I'm not sure I've recovered from the memory of being served hot shredded wheat.

JohnTheRevelator · 16/04/2025 17:34

I know a couple of people who think that cold food doesn't count as a 'proper meal'. They were both brought up in households where very traditional meals were served, i.e. meat and 2 veg,and anything that strayed from this wasn't regarded as 'proper food'. I recall one of these people being scandalised by the fact that I was having sandwiches for my dinner!

Original poster
TropicofCapricorn · 16/04/2025 17:31

Fairyliz · 16/04/2025 14:58

Hot food in the winter, cold food in the summer. Those are the rules surely?

I don't want to come to your summer BBQS, mmmm cold hot dogs ;)

OP posts:
miraxxx · 16/04/2025 17:30

TropicofCapricorn · 16/04/2025 10:37

People seem to think that hot food for meals is inherently better than cold?

If I served my daughter cold chicken pesto pasta and some salad for dinner, some people look at me "aren't you giving her a proper meal?". Bit of id given her the pasta hit and with peas or something, they wouldn't bat an eyelid.

You see it on MN too, somehow people think a hot meal is more filling?

Is there any truth in that?

I'm of the opinion a cheese sandwich is the same nutritionally and as filling as a cheese toastie.

Food isn't simply about nutrition but a whole aesthetic and emotional experience. We eat with all our senses. Warmth is a part of that. It never matters if food looks appetising but we go to great trouble to make it look so, why bother? I am asian and cold food signifies a lack of care. I dont mind eating cold food myself but couldnt serve something cold to others.

Original poster
TropicofCapricorn · 16/04/2025 17:30

Shitmonger · 16/04/2025 15:17

I voted YABU because you’ve got a strawman argument going.

No one thinks that the nutrition is different between the same food hot versus cold. They simply like it hot as a matter of preference, which is fine.

Yes they do! Already in this thread people have asserted hit food is better...

OP posts:
OraclesandOmens · 16/04/2025 17:24

Yea! I think some of us are sensitive to hot vs cold food and additionally some foods are better hot than cold. Also, we are conditioned by society to believe some foods should be served cold/hot. I love cold macaroni cheese from a can but thinking about it hot makes me heave. My Chinese friend asked me to please not serve water from my jug in the fridge as in her culture it should be served at room temperature.