On a similar note, drinking hot water or hot soup can help break up nasal congestion, both Bhuyan and Lindsay-Adler add. One seminal 1978 study demonstrated that sipping warm soup or hot water can help clear out nasal mucus more quickly than drinking cold water or drinking a hot beverage via straw. Hot beverages may help your digestionAnother touted benefit of drinking hot beverages is the potential impact on the gastrointestinal tract. No, hot water doesn’t speed up your metabolism or detox the bodyThe idea of hot water speeding up your metabolism is, however, more myth than reality. Moral of the story: if drinking hot water makes you drink more water, then fire up the kettle.