Many of us will head straight for a cool refreshing drink on a hot day, which will give you a pleasant sensation of instant cooling but it doesn’t last long. Drinking or eating too much of anything extremely cold can cause blood vessels to tighten, making you feel much hotter, rather than cooler.

The science behind sweating

When your core temperature rises, the body’s response is to send blood to the surface of the skin, open the pores and release moisture as sweat. As the sweat on your skin evaporates, it cools you down. Drinking a hot drink raises the body’s core temperature, making you sweat more.

Of course, there are other ways to stay cool in the heat such as putting a wet towel around your head, or around your wrists, as this will cause cooling because water in the towel will evaporate, this is why a wet towel feels cool when you put your hand up against it and that will cool you down.

Stay hydrated, even if it’s with a hot cuppa!

The key is to keep hydrated because drinking provides you with the material with which you can produce
sweat, thereby reducing your own temperature.

So, whilst cold drinks and ice treats will make you feel cooler initially, don’t ignore a good old cuppa on a
hot day.