Kristi King, wtop.com
WASHINGTON – When it feels like an oven outside certain foods and beverages can help mitigate misery.
Cucumbers and watermelon are full of water. But, the benefits of eating them go beyond hydration. Cucumbers have caffeic and ascorbic acid that can cut bloating and swelling associated with heat and humidity.
A registered dietitian also tells Fox News watermelon has electrolytes, sodium and potassium that bodies lose when sweating.
Also, drinking something hot on a hot day can have a cooling effect by inducing extra sweat. Sweat evaporating from skin cools bodies down.
That cooling effect is lost, however, if the extra sweat doesn’t evaporate from skin. A researcher at the University of Ottawa’s School of Human Kinetics conducted experiments on this in his Thermal Ergonomics Lab.
Ollie Jay tells Smithsonian.com if it’s too humid or if sweat drips off before evaporating, a better bet would be to drink something cold.
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