It’s time to break out the sunblock if you reside in the United Kingdom, as a heatwave is expected to arrive this weekend and last into next week.
Due to forecasted temperatures of up to 33°C (91°F) in parts of the United Kingdom, you may be concerned about staying cool.
A fast Google search for “how to stay cool during a heatwave” yields a variety of bizarre suggestions, such as sipping hot tea, eating spicy cuisine, and licking your wrists.
However, do any of these strategies work?
In preparation for the upcoming heatwave, MailOnline investigated the science behind these bizarre cooling methods to separate fact from myth.
- Drink hot tea
Even though you may be tempted to grab a cold beverage to assist you to cool down, hot beverages such as teas and coffees may be more helpful.
Researchers from the University of Ottawa examined the effect of drinking hot beverages on body temperature in 2012.
The results demonstrated that a hot beverage can cool you down, but only in dry environments.
In an interview with Smithsonian Magazine, Dr. Ollie Jay, one of the study’s authors, explained: “If the additional sweat created by drinking a hot beverage may evaporate, drinking a hot beverage does reduce the amount of heat your body stores.”
When you consume a hot beverage, you sweat more. If perspiration can evaporate, it cools the body, more than compensating for the heat provided by the fluid.
Sweating might be embarrassing, yet it is a necessary biological process that helps us stay cool.
As perspiration evaporates from the skin’s surface, it eliminates excess heat by transforming water into vapor.
In humid conditions, however, this cooling effect is diminished, thus drinking hot beverages will not assist to cool you down.
Dr. Jay explained: ‘On an extremely hot and humid day, if you’re wearing a lot of clothing or if you’re sweating so much that it drips into the ground and doesn’t evaporate from the skin’s surface, drinking a hot beverage is not a good idea.
“The hot beverage still adds a little heat to the body, so if the perspiration won’t help with evaporation, choose a cold beverage.”
- Consume spicy food
This week, you might want to go for a spicy curry instead of ice cream.
Capsaicin, a substance present in chili peppers, is responsible for the “burn” you feel on your tongue while eating spicy foods.
This is typically followed by a similar warming sensation throughout the remainder of the body, resulting in sweating.
Professor Barry Green of Yale revealed in Scientific American that spicy meals stimulate the skin receptors that ordinarily respond to heat.
The central nervous system responds to whatever information the sensory system provides.
Therefore, the pattern of activity from pain and heated nerve fibers generates both the perceptions and the bodily responses to heat, such as vasodilation, sweating, and flushing.
As we observed with hot beverages, sweating is one of the most important temperature regulation mechanisms, so tea and curry it is!
Licking your wrists
Numerous species in the animal kingdom employ this strategy, including kangaroos and monkeys.
As nasty as it may sound, licking one’s wrists can also help humans stay cool.
Pulse points are locations on the wrists where you may feel your pulse because your blood vessels are close to the skin’s surface.
By licking your wrists, you are using saliva to simulate the cooling effects of sweat on the skin’s surface.
This reduces blood flow, preventing your body from overheating.
If the concept of licking your wrists is repulsive, you can achieve a similar effect by pouring water on your wrists.
- Disconnect your charges
Although most of us are aware that large, powerful electronics such as televisions and laptops emit a great deal of heat, you may forget to unplug smaller appliances.
Heavy use of lamps, kettles, irons and even chargers can generate significant amounts of heat.
In 2020, ZDNet researchers utilized a thermal camera to measure the temperature of a wireless charger both during and after use.
When an iPhone 11 Pro Max was placed on the wireless charger, the device reached 32 degrees Celsius while the surrounding air reached 20 degrees Celsius.
If you want the charging to be cooler, remove any cases, avoid charging the phone in direct sunlight, and place the charging pad on a hard surface (not on blankets or anything that could block the air holes), they said.
- Give up the booze
During a heatwave, you may be tempted to head to the next pub garden, but if you do, try to avoid drinking.
Alcohol is a diuretic that increases urination and can result in severe dehydration.
“Alcohol causes us to urinate more frequently, and fluid loss at this rate can lead to dehydration if not supplemented,” writes Drink Aware.
If we consume alcohol, it is essential to replenish lost fluids by consuming water.
The effects of dehydration include experiencing thirst, dizziness, lightheadedness, fatigue, a dry mouth and lips, and dark yellow, pungent urine.
Additionally, alcohol causes the skin’s blood vessels to dilate, making you feel hotter.
Do not open every window.
It may seem paradoxical, but a study indicates you shouldn’t open all the windows to cool your home.
Since hot air rises, rooms in the sun upstairs will be warmer than those in the shaded downstairs, creating a pressure difference.
By opening the windows in these rooms, you may produce a breeze that draws in cool air from the basement and forces warm air out of the house through the sunny rooms upstairs.
Roll your tongue while you breathe
A method known as shitali pranayama is revered by seasoned yoga practitioners for its ability to lower the body’s core temperature.
Meera Watts, the founder of Siddhi Yoga, described to Live Science how the approach may chill the body within minutes.
She explained, “It begins with sitting in a comfortable position with the back straight and the hands-on the knees.”
“Removing the tongue and folding it into a U-shape on the sides.” In this tube posture, you must inhale via your tongue and exhale through your nostrils.
To experience the cooling effect, repeat the procedure 5-8 times within a few minutes.’
