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We may still be in the springtime but summer heat doesn’t follow a calendar. If you’ve been outside lately and felt the sudden, disorienting blast of a spring heat wave, you’re probably looking for ways to stay cool. We’ve got you covered in this week’s Wellness Wednesday. Read on as we offer up some easy to follow tips that will help you keep you cool while everything is heating up.
Stay Hydrated
The single most important thing you can do to protect yourself during a heat wave is to drink plenty of water. Staying hydrated is essential to maintaining your health. It’s important to remember that you need to drink MORE water than you normally do during a heat wave, as you will sweat more and dehydrate faster than usual. This also applies to an increase in humidity.
Be aware of dehydration symptoms. If you find yourself experiencing any of the following, you need to act quickly before it escalates into heat exhaustion or a heat stroke:
- Extreme thirst
- Fatigue
- Confusion
- Dizziness
- Inconsistent/less frequent urination
- Dark-colored urine
- Diarrhea
- Vomiting
Eat Fruit
When you feel a snack attack coming on when it’s hot out, reach for some fruit. Not only are they sweet and tasty and packed with nutrients, most fruits are dense with water. They’re a great way to satisfy your appetite and stay hydrated. If you like salty foods (which can dehydrate you), fruit can be a good countermeasure to help mitigate the salt’s diuretic effects on the body.
Some of the most water-packed fruits include:
- Watermelon
- Strawberries
- Cantaloupe
- Peaches
- Oranges
- Tomatoes
- Grapefruit
- Coconut
Keep Your Clothes Long & Light
It may seem counterintuitive but it’s true: long sleeves keep you cooler in the heat. There’s a reason why people who garden and work construction don’t rock short sleeves. Long sleeves offer protection from environmental hazards (sunburns, bug bites, cuts, and exposure to UV rays that could cause skin cancer) while also trapping moisture on your skin by keeping your sweat on your skin instead of evaporating into the open air. The improved airflow of long sleeved shirts also have the added benefit of keeping your skin from drying out.
When it comes to the right colors to wear in hot temperatures, the lighter the better. Black clothes absorb more heat and transmit it to the skin (the exception is if you’re wearing very thick black fabric, which then diffuses the heat across the fabric before it hits the skin).
Open At Night, Close During The Day
When you’re at home, keep your windows shut and your blinds or curtains drawn during the day to block out the heat and to keep sunlight from heating up your interior. But when the sun sets and the air begins to cool outside, open things up to let that breeze circulate in your home. The trick is to compare how cool it is indoors versus the air outside: when it’s hot out there, keep it shut; when it cools down, open things up.
Protect Your Pets
If it’s hot for you, it’s definitely hot for your furry little guys and gals. Pets are a lot like us: they need to stay hydrated and limit their physical activity while they're out in the heat. Take a spray bottle with you on walks and give your dog a light misting to cool them off. You might think fanning your pets is a good idea, but it isn’t as effective as fanning a human: animals respond differently to heat than we do.
Remember that dogs tend to sweat primarily through their paws, so you want to protect those sensitive areas with booties or by kicking them off hot pavement or asphalt. Watch out for humidity: animals have a hard time cooling themselves off when the humidity is too high. Keep them in the shade while they’re outside, and cool them off indoors by adding ice to their water bowls.
Dogs and cats can suffer heat strokes just like us. Be mindful of the symptoms of heat strokes in animals:
- Heavy panting
- Glazed eyes
- Rapid heartbeats
- Labored/difficult breathing
- Lethargy
- Fever
- Dizziness
- Extreme salivation
- Vomiting
- Seizure
- A deep red or purple tongue
- Sudden lack of coordination
If you see these signs, get your animal out of the heat immediately and cool them down with an ice pack or cold towel, feed them water, and get them to a veterinarian ASAP.
And above all else: keep your animals OUT of cars when there’s a heat wave!
Cotton Sheets
One thing that can help you keep your cool during a hot night is to sleep on breathable cotton sheets. Fabric that helps you wick sweat can help you stay cool and won’t dehydrate you. Natural fabrics and linens tend to be best for sleeping in hot weather, though you may want to consider using synthetic fabrics if you tend to be a heavy sweater.
You can also “pretreat” your sheets by LIGHTLY spraying them with cold water before sleeping, running a fan near them, and by also placing the pillow cases or bed sheet in a plastic bag and storing them in a freezer during the day. Taking a cold shower before bed can also keep the sweating at bay, but keep in mind that exposure to cold water can make it harder for you to fall asleep afterward. The cold water can activate your nervous system, releasing higher levels of cortisol. Studies have found that having increased cortisol levels at night can lead to poorer and more inconsistent sleep.
Cool Off With Hot Coffee
This final tip might sound crazy but the science is sound: drinking a HOT drink can cool you down. If you enjoy a hot cup of coffee or tea in the morning, you don’t need to sacrifice that early morning pick-me-up to stay cool. The way it works is pretty simple: the hot drink temporarily increases your body temperature, which in turn causes you to sweat more. So long as the sweat has a chance to properly evaporate, it can cool down the body. The amount of perspiration (and resulting coolness from that perspiration) generated by the hot drink far exceeds the small spike in body temperature it causes.
The key to this working, however, is that you have to sweat properly. If the sweat doesn’t evaporate, the cooling won’t take hold and you’ll just end up feeling hotter because you just imbibed a scorching hot drink. So you want to make sure you’re dressed properly and in an environment where you can safely and successfully wick out that moisture.
Article by Austin Brietta
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