Don’t wait until you feel thirsty. In hot weather, drink water throughout the day to avoid dehydration. This is the first and basic rule. What but water to quench your thirst so as not to harm yourself? It depends on the climate in where we are at the moment.
Hot or rather icy?
In our climate, we don’t recommend quenching your thirst with hot tea. This claim is supported by the results of some 2012 studies. Researchers from the University of Ottawa (Canada) conducted an experiment with 50 men who trained intensively for an hour and a half in a room with a high temperature. From time to time, only the humidity of the air changed there. During training, the men sipped hot drinks, and scientists checked their body temperature and other medical parameters.
They eventually concluded that hot tea does cool when drunk in hot and dry climates, such as deserts or semi-arid regions. To do this, you also need to wear little, and in very air fabrics, so that nothing prevents sweat from evaporating from the body. The fact is that excess sweat released under the influence of a hot drink could easily evaporate from the surface of our skin and thus cool it.
“The key is how fast you sweat. The more sweat, the more cooling, because sweat, evaporating from the body, takes some energy with it, the study authors explained in a paper published in “Acta Physiologica.”
Unfortunately, this cooling method does not work in hot and humid weather and is therefore not suitable for use in our climate. Under such conditions, sweat does not evaporate well and usually drips from us. In addition, our clothing prevents sweat from evaporating. Therefore, it is difficult to consider hot tea an ideal means to cope with the heat in the city.
In such a situation, it is better and healthier to drink cold drinks. Being at sea in the summer, let’s choose something cooler, and leave a hot drink for the moment when we find ourselves in a hot and dry climate.
How to quench your thirst?
The best water will be (sparkling, still – let’s just pick the one we like), natural juices (no added sugar), iced tea and iced coffee (or regular tea or iced coffee). It is important to drink plenty of water often on hot days to prevent dehydration or heatstroke. A good indicator is… the color of your urine. The lighter it is, the more hydrated you are.
Natural juices are an excellent choice, because in addition to water, they also contain nutrients, including vitamins (freshly squeezed juice from citrus fruits or pomegranates taken from the refrigerator saved many lovers of ancient ruins).
Fruit juices are great for hot weather, but vegetable juices are also noteworthy. For example, tomato juice: tasty, satisfying and, in addition, high in electrolytes. And that’s important because we’ve probably lost a lot of sodium and potassium sweating in the heat.
So in the heat, we drink water (you can with ice cubes) or juices labeled “100 percent juice without adding sugar.” Cool tea and coffee will also help us get rid of dehydration.
Alcohol in hot weather is not the best choice, as it has diuretic properties. So in the most intense heat, choose water, juice or iced tea. However, if we reach for beer or wine on a hot day, then let’s drink a glass of water to avoid dehydration.
Food to keep us cool and hydrated
Food and foods containing plenty of water also provide refreshment and hydration in hot weather. You can choose salads from the dishes (green salad, cucumbers, tomatoes are recommended), soups (for example, cold soups) and fruits. Watermelons, which are more than 90 percent water, are the best, as well as strawberries, berries, peaches and melons.
