What to eat in hot weather to help your body cope with heat

How do we react to heat

At high temperatures thirsty, and this is the natural defensive behavior of our body. It is 60% composed of The Water in You: Water and the Human Body / U. S. Geological Survey from water, and this water is not fresh, but salty. The key chemical elements of this "salinity" are sodium (Na) and potassium (K).

The body tries to cool itself by producing sweat and evaporating it from the surface of the skin. In this case, not only water is lost, but also salts, trace elements and other components. The properties and contents of sweat / Deranged Physiology. The maximum moisture loss with sweat was noted by M. Torii. Maximal sweating rate in humans / Journal of Human Ergology in marathon runners in hot weather and can reach two liters per hour.

To understand that there is not enough water, it is easiest for a healthy person to focus on the feeling of thirst and diuresis - the frequency of urination, the amount and concentration of urine. If you pee less often than usual, and the urine is too dark, concentrated, then you probably need to add water. This will help not only an increase in fluid intake, but also a certain diet.

What to include in the diet

Salt

In hot weather, it is advisable and even necessary to include salt in the diet. So, the vital sodium for us is contained by WHO issues new guidance on dietary salt and potassium / World Health Organization in some products: milk and cream (50 mg per 100 g), eggs (80 mg per 100 g). The main source of sodium is table salt (NaCl). It is added to finished food products, respectively, sodium is contained in them.

For example, bread contains about 250 mg sodium per 100 g. There is a lot of it in ready-made fish or meat delicacies (bacon contains 1.5 g sodium per 100 g), in snacks (salted crackers and popcorn contain 1.5 g sodium per 100 g). Sodium is also abundant in seasonings and sauces (soy sauce contains 7 g of sodium per 100 g).

The Sodium Guideline for Adults and Children / WHO Sodium intake for people over 16 years of age is 5 g (½ flat teaspoon) per day.

Potassium is rich in beans and peas (approximately 1.3 g per 100 mg), nuts (600 mg per 100 g), bananas and papaya (300 mg per 100 g). Potatoes baked in skins contain 573 mg of potassium per 100 g.

The norm of the Potassium Intake Guideline for Adults and Children / WHO Potassium intake for adults is at least 3.51 g per day.

Vegetables and fruits

Consuming fruits and vegetables, you, in fact, do not eat, but drink, because about 90% of them consist of M. E. Dauthy. Fruit and vegetable processing / FAO Agricultural Services Bulletin from water. However, unlike ordinary water, the water in the composition of vegetables and fruits already contains some of the salts we need.

Vegetables and fruits	Content in 100 g of product
	Water, g	Na, mg	K, mg
Celery	95, 43	80	260
Cucumbers	95, 23	2	147
Radish	95, 27	39	233
Green leaf lettuce	94, 98	28	194
Tomatoes	94, 52	5	237
Cabbage	92, 18	18	170
Watermelon	91, 45	1	112
Green onion	90, 5	17	212
Melon	89, 92	18	228
Peach	88, 87	0	190
Apricot	86, 35	1	259
Dill, greens	85, 95	61	738
Apples	85, 56	1	107
Kiwi	83, 07	3	312
Cherries	82, 25	0	222

Vegetables can be eaten whole or as salads. A small amount of table salt compensates for the loss of sodium, while vegetable oil or yogurt used as a dressing will improve the taste and nutritional value. You can also add lean meat, fish or cheese to salads to diversify them and enrich them with protein.

Wash down salads with clean water, kvass or kefir at room temperature. In Asian countries, hot green tea is widely consumed in the heat.

Cold soups

This is ideal - both food and drink at once. Almost every national cuisine has its own recipe for a cool soup in case of heat, for example, beetroot, okroshka, gazpacho, tarator, chiller, botvinnik.

Such soups consist of vegetable, vegetable and meat, vegetable and fish dressing and a liquid base. There are many options for liquids. Your choice: dark or light kvass; kefir, whey or other fermented milk products; vegetable, mushroom, fish or meat broths. Usually cold soups are eaten with finely chopped fresh herbs and aromatic herbs. In especially hot countries, it is customary to add chunks of ice directly to the soup. It is not difficult to choose a recipe to your taste and wallet.

Hot spices

Spices are an integral part of the diet in hot countries and beyond. In Russia, mustard and horseradish are traditionally eaten - they are also added to okroshka.

Hot spices are used as natural preservatives, as they prevent the growth of bacteria in food, which is especially important at high ambient temperatures. The burning effect of spices on the mucous membrane of the digestive tract causes a slight chemical burn and a return release of pleasure hormones for pain relief. This property is even used in medicine. There are many Capsaicin / PubChem products based on capsaicin, the main alkaloid in red pepper.

Mint, with its pleasant cooling taste, is often used as a component of soft drinks, desserts or snacks. Hot peppers are traditionally used in Caucasian, Asian and Mexican cuisine, which proves the advisability of their use on hot days. However, it should be remembered that for many diseases, spicy and spicy food is contraindicated.

Conclusion

Summer heat is a transitory phenomenon. Nature has provided us with protective mechanisms in case of overheating: to regulate body temperature - by changing the intensity of blood supply to the skin and sweating, and to replenish the water-salt balance and energy needs - by thirst and hunger. We need to be more attentive to the needs of our bodies in order to successfully cope with environmental changes.