Djokovic credits success to diet of 'mostly warm' food and water

A diet secret in Novak Djokovic's new book Serve to Win has let fans in on what Chinese medicine practitioners have professed for centuries, that warm foods are better for health.

According to News.com.au, in Djokovic's book, released last month, the men's No. 1 tennis player says he drinks warm water all day long because cold water slows digestion and diverts blood away from where he wants it, in his muscles.

The Serbian said that the first thing he does out of bed is to drink a tall glass of room-temperature water.

The 26-year-old, who has climbed to the top of a brutally competitive sport during one of its most competitive eras, also reveals that he unwinds over a cup of warm licorice tea, the report said.

His premise is rooted in Chinese medicine, which espouses the notion that digestion requires heat to be most effective and therefore, practitioners advocate a mostly warm, cooked diet, the report added.

Chinese medicine also advocates eliminating dairy and excess sugar, the report further said.

Warming foods, which should be chewed well and eaten while relaxed, include squash, carrots, potatoes, leeks, onions, rice, oats, butter, small amounts of animal protein, cooked fruits, cinnamon, nutmeg, black pepper and honey, according to the report.