Summer, sun, sunshine – some people enjoy the summer weather, for others it is already too warm when the thermometer climbs to 27 or 28 degrees in the shade. When it reaches 30 or 35 degrees, most people are probably talking about heat. Fortunately, there are a few tips to cool down a bit on hot days and help the body to better cope with the high temperatures.
Heat: warm or cold drinks?
Not every tip that is circulating about how to deal with heat better is actually useful. Some people say that it is better to drink a hot tea. Others swear by chilled mineral water from the fridge.
There is a lot of debate about which drink temperature is best. “Physiologically, there is no evidence that warm drinks are healthier for the body in summer,” says nutritionist Antje Gahl from the German Nutrition Society to the “Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND)”. The idea is that if you drink warm tea, you sweat more and therefore cool down. When we sweat, it evaporates from our skin and the evaporative cooling creates a cooling effect.
The idea itself is not wrong. But “increasing the core temperature so that the body then counteracts it more strongly (increased blood flow to the skin, more sweating) is nonsense – or do you open the window in winter when it’s cold in the room so that your heating thermostat is activated more strongly and the radiator heats up more?” says thermophysiologist Dr. Gernot Kuhnen from the Justus Liebig University in Giessen.
Some people advise against drinking cold drinks in the summer because the body has to actively bring them up to body temperature. However, according to Gernot Kuhnen and Antje Gahl, this is not true. Cold foods are not actively warmed in the gastrointestinal tract. “The drink is warmed in the gastrointestinal tract, but this is referred to as passive warming,” Gahl told RND. This means that the body does not actively warm up a cool glass of water; this happens through the ambient temperature.
So warm and cold drinks are both fine on hot days. The main thing is that the body gets enough fluids! “However, you should avoid ice-cold drinks, as these can lead to stomach cramps and then hinder the necessary fluid intake,” advises Kuhnen.
If you want to keep a cool head, it’s better to choose a drink other than an ice-cold beer. In the photo gallery, we give you helpful tips to make hot days a little more bearable!
Sources: , , , , Kuhnen , , , ,
This text has been updated and the passage about the beverage temperature has been corrected. It comes from the stern archive and first appeared in June 2023.
Source: Stern
I’m Caroline, a journalist and author for 24 Hours Worlds. I specialize in health-related news and stories, bringing real-world impact to readers across the globe. With my experience in journalism and writing in both print and online formats, I strive to provide reliable information that resonates with audiences from all walks of life.
