Health Tips

The weather is scorching hot! While there are ways to cool your body down like wearing loose clothing, staying cool indoors, or drinking plenty of water, there are also food that you can take.

Watermelon

Watermelon contains about 92% water that will help you to stay hydrated during the hot weather. In addition, watermelon contains citrulline (an amino acid) that relaxes you and helps for blood dilation, which can circulate around the body and then cool you down.

Cucumber

Cucumber contains 95% water which helps to hydrate your skin and reduce body heat naturally.

Warm soup

A bowl of warm soup can actually regulate your body temperature by making you perspire. As the sweat evaporates, your body is cooled down.

Chilli

Chilli is a “thermogenic” food containing capsaicin that signals the brain into thinking you are overheating. This result in sweating which cools your body down. So, you can add chillies into your dishes to add some spice while cooling your body!

Coconut water

Coconut water is beneficial for rehydrating as well as rich in electrolytes (sodium, potassium and chloride).

Strawberries

Strawberries are rich in vitamin C and its phytonutrient act like a natural sunblock, which prevent you from burning.

What food should be limited or avoided?

1. Cold food and drinks

Ice-cream, cendol or ais kacang might seem like natural choices when to want to cool off, it is short lived. Consuming food leads to an increased temperature as digestion is a heat-generating process. When combined with the rapid cooling from the cold food and drinks, your body compensates by increasing your core temperature. Thus, you may actually feeling warmer than you intially started!

2. Carbohydrate-rich food

Rice and wholegrains can be more difficult to digest, which increases your body temperature. One way to alleviate this is to soak the grains before cooking to make the fibre more digestible.

3. Food high in protein

Meat when digested, creates heat. However, if you add citrus-rich marinades on the meat, it helps to break down protein structure, making it easier to digest and thus lesser heat generated.

References:

1. How to Eat in a Heatwave | BBC Good Food
2. Hydrating Foods: 7 You Need to Eat When the Weather is Hot | BT
3. The Best Foods to Keep You Cool in the Summer Heat | Independent

Image credit:

1. https://pixabay.com/photos/watermelon-watermelons-3620726/
2. https://pixabay.com/photos/cucumber-salad-food-healthy-green-685704/
3. https://pixabay.com/photos/soup-tomato-healthy-homemade-1429793/
4. https://pixabay.com/photos/cayenne-chilli-spice-red-hot-1472845/
5. https://www.shutterstock.com/es/video/clip-24035347-fresh-coconut-sunglasses-flip-flops-on-sandy-white
6. https://pixabay.com/photos/strawberries-fruit-red-sweet-1350482/
7. https://pixabay.com/photos/ice-cream-cone-strawberry-ice-cream-926426/
8. https://pixabay.com/photos/rice-rice-grains-food-eat-3506194/
9. https://pixabay.com/photos/barbecue-meat-grill-flame-bbq-123668/

Written by

Dr Amirah Ekhsan