Scorching heat and humid climate combined with intense pollution can ultimately pose a danger to your health. Dehydration, heat stroke, and allergies are some common problems that increase sharply during summer months. Changing seasons bring changes in weather, lifestyle, and even dietary practices. Each season has its own requirements. Summer is the most challenging for the body. How to survive the heat and support your body? What to do when it’s hot? Read on to learn what to eat and drink in the heat.
How to Survive the Heat: Thermoregulation
Thermoregulation is the ability of living organisms to maintain body temperature within certain limits, even if the external temperature differs significantly.
The human body can release heat into the environment through three mechanisms: radiation, convection, and sweat evaporation. When the ambient temperature rises significantly, cooling also occurs through evaporation of liquid from the mucous membranes of the upper respiratory tract (which is why you may feel dryness in your throat). A small amount of heat is also released from the body with feces and urine.
The layer of subcutaneous fat hinders heat transfer because its adipose tissue has low thermal conductivity, as does clothing that creates a layer of still air around the body. Therefore, people with higher body fat content feel much hotter.
Breathing also participates in maintaining body temperature: during exhalation, the lungs release water in the form of water vapor; this type of heat transfer is regulated by changes in breathing frequency.
When body temperature rises, skin vessels dilate, increasing the volume of blood flowing through skin vessels, which leads to blood cooling in skin vessels due to heat transfer from the body surface. There’s a sensation of body swelling, puffiness. To some extent, this is physiological.
What to Do When It’s Hot in Summer?
The hypothalamus is the brain area that regulates temperature (it’s the part that greatly affects how we fall asleep). It receives information about body temperature and gives necessary orders to restore homeostasis (balance). It will tell your sweat glands to work more if the body is too hot, or make muscles shiver to warm up. Don’t interfere with sweat gland function using aggressive products or tight clothing; allow your body to sweat in summer. If your sweat smells unpleasant, you need to read this post.
What to Eat and Drink in the Heat?
Now let’s discuss what to do when it’s hot in summer: what to eat in the heat to make it easier for the body and what to drink in the heat to better survive the heat.
- Summer can adversely affect the human body, leading to weakness and fatigue. Protein plays a key role in increasing steady energy levels. Consuming enough protein from seeds, nuts, legumes, fish, poultry, and lean meat can help maintain high energy levels and improve overall health. Don’t forget about protein in summer.
- Potassium is one of the important electrolytes that play a vital role in ensuring healthy body function. Sweating in summer months can lead to potassium loss, which in turn can cause fatigue, weakness, and muscle spasms. Potassium sources: bananas, oranges, melon, honeydew melon, apricots, grapefruit, cooked spinach, cooked broccoli, potatoes (sweet and regular), mushrooms, peas, cucumbers, zucchini, pumpkins, lima beans, pinto beans, beans, soybeans, lentils, tuna, halibut, cod, trout, sea bass, molasses, nuts, brown and wild rice.
- Strengthen your immune system with vitamin C.
Vitamin C is a water-soluble vitamin naturally present in some foods and essential for skin health and strong immunity. Free radicals can cause skin damage, and vitamin C, a powerful antioxidant, can help protect the skin from them. Dietary sources: Vitamin C is found in tomatoes, strawberries, potatoes, broccoli, and citrus fruits such as oranges, grapefruits, lemons, and kiwis. - Zinc for summer.
Zinc is one of the minerals considered very important for supporting overall immune function. Summer is often a season of viral fevers and allergies. Thus, zinc helps prevent this by making the immune system much stronger. Dietary sources: nuts, cashews, pumpkin seeds, whole grains. - Always drink enough fluids.
Water is undoubtedly one of the essential nutrients needed by the human body, especially in summer. As you can notice, temperature rise can cause the human body to lose a lot of fluid through sweat. The ideal way is to drink about 8-10 glasses of water daily. You can also choose foods like cucumbers, watermelons, and citrus fruits. - Magnesium for electrolyte imbalance.
Magnesium is vital for muscle and nerve function and regulation of fluid balance in the body. Moreover, it also helps in the smooth functioning of the immune system, as well as proper regulation of blood pressure in people. This is especially relevant in summer months when electrolyte imbalances are possible. Dietary sources: avocado, quinoa, almonds, peanuts, and seeds such as pumpkin, chia, and sunflower seeds. - Fully replenish electrolytes.
Sodium is not the only electrolyte your body loses during workouts in hot weather. Calcium, magnesium, and potassium should also be replenished for proper body function. In the heat, your body needs to sweat more to maintain internal temperature at a normal level.
Electrolytes are minerals that create electrically charged ions, and they live in your body fluids. Those you need to focus on when it comes to nutrition are:
– Sodium
– Potassium
– Calcium
– Magnesium
– Phosphorus - Avoid heat-producing foods.
Your body digests foods differently depending on their specific content. Some foods can actually raise or lower the body’s internal temperature. Cooling foods include fresh products high in water content, such as cucumbers or watermelons. For example, watermelon is almost 90% water, making it easier to digest and cool the body. Warming foods include fatty foods and root vegetables. These foods require more energy to digest and raise internal temperature. Spicy foods can be considered both warming and cooling. For example, hot pepper stimulates the circulatory system and raises body temperature. Very spicy food can also cause sweating, but as sweat evaporates, it cools the skin, helping to lower internal temperature. - Avoid too cold drinks and ice cream.
The cooling effect from consuming too cold products can be short-lived. This is because eating leads to a temperature increase as the digestion process is heat-generating. This, combined with the rapid cooling caused by cold food and drinks, means your body overcompensates by raising internal temperature. Thus, you may actually feel hotter than initially! - Drinking something hot on a sunny day may seem the least attractive activity, but warm drinks can help regulate body temperature. When body temperature rises, the body wants to cool down, so you sweat more to lose heat through the skin.
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