Will Drinking Alcohol In Winter Actually Warm Up An Iowan?

Iowans drink a lot, especially when it's cold, but does it do any good?

Midwesterners are hearty folks and part of the reason we're able to get through the negative winter temps and icebox weather days is thanks to this:

It's long been said and practiced that you drink some booze to warm up. Or drink enough that you just don't feel the cold anymore (looking at you, Green Bay fans). But does it actually hold up?

You Do Warm Up When You Drink...Kinda

WebMD says that drinking can warm you up for a while and make you blush, not because of whatever stupid pickup line you just came up with, but because the booze widens your blood vessels and makes more blood flow to your skin.

So you're nice and toasty but only for a second.

You Can Actually Get Hypothermia

Okay, it sounds dramatic, but if you wanna go out like a party animal, this is one way to do it. Dr. Harriet Davis at Navant Health says that drinking can actually lower your core body temperature and put you at risk for hypothermia. It reverses your body's processes, including the reflexes that regulate body temperature.

You may notice too that you don't shiver much when you drink. This isn't good since shivering is our body's natural way to try to warm us up.

However, I do not see any warnings against having a few bevys while inside somewhere nice and warm so do with that information what you will through March.