Cool tips offered for beating the heat

AS Dunedin and the South faces another hot weekend here are some more traditional tips on how to deal with the heat.

Wear cotton clothing. It provides excellent ventilation and airflow.

Drink plenty of water, avoid caffeine and alcohol, stay in the shade and avoid strenuous activity — it’s tried and trusted, and it is the same advice Southern DHB medical officer of health Dr Susan Jack gave this week.

You could also have a piping hot cup of tea. It sounds counterproductive, but research from the University of Ottawa has found that hot drinks trigger a disproportionately high sweat response, without significantly raising your core temperature.

And since sweating cools you down, it can be argued a red hot curry does the same, and the spices also make you drink more to replace lost fluids.

You can’t argue with 1,362,455,771 Indians living in one of the hottest countries in the world.

However, medical experts suggest a lighter diet of cold fruit, salads or lowfat dairy products is better. The body produces more heat when it digests large, stodgy meals.

Another thing our forebears did was put their wrists under the cold tap for three minutes, which reduces the temperature of the blood running through the veins and lowers the temperature of the rest of the body.

Because the body radiates heat from the hands, feet, face and ears, cooling any of these parts with a cold cloth will be effective.

Some timetested ideas for keeping cool in bed are to take a cold shower first; put your sheets in the fridge or freezer for a few minutes before bed; use a damp sheet or towel as a blanket; and put a hot water bottle in the freezer to create a bedfriendly ice pack.

Less is definitely more when it comes to heatwave sleeping and sleeping alone also helps create a cool sleeping environment.

The quickest way to cool down is to apply ice packs to ‘‘pulse points’’ at the wrists, neck, elbows, groin, ankles, and behind the knees.