9 Tricks for Fighting the Heat

Even though you don’t believe it, showering with cold water can make you even hotter. This is because your body raises its temperature to keep it stable. The best thing to do is to shower with lukewarm water.

Written and verified by the nurse Leidy Mora Molina.

Last update: 12 May, 2022

Summer is synonymous with vacations, spending a lot of time outdoors, and enjoying the warm temperatures. If you feel that the temperature becomes unbearable at times, this series of tips and tricks will be useful to you to help you beat the heat.

1. Sweat and drink water

Sweating is a natural defense mechanism for regulating your temperature and keeping your body cool. The process of cooling is done by millions of sweat glands. These are placed in specific parts of your body (apocrine glands) and in your skin (eccrine glands).

However, sweating for hours can result in dehydration. Because of this, it’s necessary to drink water on a regular basis.

To beat the heat, you don’t need to drink a lot of ice water. You just have to drink enough liquid, at a cool temperature. You can also wet your ears with some fresh water every so often, as this simple trick helps to mitigate the heat.

2. Avoid showering with cold water

Many people tend to think that cold showers lower body temperature. However, what they do is activate the body to increase temperature and not lose heat.

After that, the best thing to do is to shower with warm water. This is cool enough to lower body temperature and prevent the body from retaining heat.

3. Wear black clothing

Usually, it’s recommended that you wear light colors. This is because darker colored clothes concentrate the heat.

However, you also need to recognize that the human body is a source of heat. White clothes reflect your body heat without letting it out. Instead, it goes back to your body. Black clothes, on the other hand, just absorb it.

Also, the use of light or dark colors depends on your climate conditions.

• If it’s windy with a dry heat, it’s best to wear black clothes.
• The secret is based on the wind. It carries away the heat that black clothes absorb. This is the reason why Bedouins crossed the desert in black clothing.
• However, if it’s hot and humid without wind, the best option would be close-fitting white clothes.

4. Wear a hat or a cap

These accessories are important for protecting yourself from the sun’s rays. Make sure that they’re synthetic fibers that don’t absorb sweat. Also, they need to have ventilation to let your sweat and heat out.

5. Wear light, loose, breathable clothing

According to the researchers of Damn Science, “Dark garments offer an advantage as long as some air flows, no matter how light it is” and they add: “Dark clothes also absorb energy (heat) from the body itself and, whenever there’s at least a slight breeze, it helps to dissipate it from the body”.

For this reason, many people recommend, in addition to wearing light, loose, and comfortable clothing, wearing dark colored clothing, such as black clothes.

6. Eat light meals

Eating foods that are rich in vitamins and minerals helps to hydrate you and helps you stay healthy. The best foods, because of their high water content, are fruits and vegetables. Some of the most recommended are:

• Pears.
• Cantaloupe.
• Watermelon.
• Broccoli.
• Cucumber.
• Lettuce.
• Tomatoes.
• Carrots
• Spinach.
• Apples

7. Eat spicy foods

Spicy food stimulates sweating, which may help regulate body temperature at times. Now, if you don’t love spicy food or it doesn’t even attract your attention, then it’s best that you choose to eat fruits rich in water, such as watermelon and melon.

8. Don’t abuse caffeinated, alcoholic, or sugary drinks

Ice cream, soft drinks, processed juices, and even beer, instead of providing greater freshness, activate the loss of body fluid and, in some cases, increase heat.

If you want, eat that delicious fruit ice cream that you like so much to fight but don’t abuse this resource frequently because it can be counterproductive for you, including your figure.

9. Try to lose weight

Applying cold to areas such as the wrists, behind the knees, and neck is a simple and useful option to fight the heat. The reason is that the veins and arteries are much closer to the skin.

In this way, when it’s in contact with a bag of cold water, the temperature of blood flow blood circulation decreases. The effect: greater freshness.

As you can see, these tricks aren’t that difficult to apply, so we hope they help you to make your summer incredible and, above all, enjoy the hot season. You can also check the recommendations of the Spanish Ministry of Health.