What you eat on a particularly hot day can determine how you feel but the choices are not always obvious.
On overage, the human body can obtain 20 per cent of the water it needs from the food we eat during the day. The food we eat can also make our body temperature rise or drop depending on the food.
Some common foods can make dehydration worse or ramp up the body temperature when we expect the opposite. So not all food is okay to eat all the time but especially on hot days avoid these foods.
Ice cream
Ice cream and any other cold food actually make us hotter when we hope to be cooler after eating it. Experts say eating food results in an increase in temperature from the digestion process.
When you combine that with the rapid cooling of cold foods, the body may try to overcome this by increasing the core temperature. Which means you feel hotter than before you ate the ice cream or cold food.
Meat
Keep your meat intake at a low level or avoid it completely, and the same goes for foods that are high in protein. This is because protein requires more digestive power which creates more body heat through a process called thermogenesis.
Diuretic foods
Diuretic foods are also known as water pills because they help your body get rid of water. However, it is essential to remain hydrated on a hot day and to reduce water loss. Avoid these foods, mangoes, fennel, artichokes and asparagus.
Highly processed foods
These foods tax the body’s water reserves because they need a lot of water to be metabolised. They are highly processed and are high in sugar, they include, candy bars, doughnuts, muffins, breads, pasta, and grains
Here are the best foods to consume on a hot day
Berries
Strawberries are 92 per cent water and others like blueberries and blackberries are more than 85% water.
Watermelon is also 92 per cent water.
Pineapples and oranges are 87 per cent water and oranges provide vitamin C.
Plums are 85 per cent water and have health benefits such as preventing heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes.
Apples are 84 per cent water and we all know the old saying — an apple a day keeps the doctor away.
Pears are also 84 per cent water.
Cherries are 80 per cent water and grapes are 81 per cent and are high in vitamins K and C. Grape seeds also have antioxidant properties.
Vegetables
Cucumbers are the most water-packed vegetable at 97 per cent, radishes, celery, endive, tomatoes, spinach, sweet red bell peppers, carrots, and broccoli. So you may want to make yourself a lot of salads.
Soup
Soup may be the last thing on your ideas of how to cool down but it is a great idea.
Soups, porridge, and stews are first and foremost good boosters of hydration levels. Spicy chilli is also a good idea for cooling off.
The nervous system senses a rise in temperature when you eat hot or spicy foods which triggers the sweat glands eccrine which release the salty components. Since these sweat glands are very many in your body, sweating helps you cool off better than cold foods.
