Thursday, July 20, 2023

When it's this hot, what should you eat?

Plus more health news |

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Eating to beat the heat
By Alice Park
Senior Health Correspondent

When it’s this hot, what should you eat? As I sweltered through another humid city day, I wondered whether there are certain foods, or diets, that are better to eat during heat waves. So I consulted some nutrition experts who specialize in understanding how food can serve as medicine, to better understand if there are foods that biologically make more sense to eat when the temperatures soar.

And it turns out, there are, including some that—counterintuitively—actually make you feel hotter and sweat more. But sweating is what you want to do in hot weather, because that’s the way the body cools itself down. Here are a few of the experts' insights:

  • It's important to stay hydrated by drinking plenty of water and eating fruits like watermelon that have a high water content.
  • Eating spicy foods—seasoned with chilis, garlic, and ginger—can trigger a physiological response that makes you sweat, which in turn cools the skin and body.
  • Even non-spicy foods like durian and pineapple can help cool the body down by slowing digestion and generating less heat.

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What Else to Read
How to Build Up Your Heat Tolerance to Prepare for a Hotter World
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How to Exercise When It’s Really Hot Outside
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Answers to five questions about this common treatment for lowering cholesterol.
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One More Read From Elsewhere
Good news for weekend warriors

If going to the gym falls off your to-do list during the chaotic work week, don’t stress too much.

Reassuring new research suggests you’ll still boost your heart health if you squeeze a week’s worth of exercise—150 minutes—into just one or two weekend days, NBC News reports.

 

Read More »

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Today's newsletter was written by Alice Park and Jamie Ducharme, and edited by Angela Haupt.

 
 
 
 
 
 

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