Heat - consequences, home remedies, tricks

What to do against the heat?

The thermometer approaches the 40 degree mark. People with high and low blood pressure, old people and sick people are particularly affected, as are babies. Even healthy people who work outdoors, travel long distances by car and can not heat-free need to protect themselves.

contents

• What to do against the heat?
• Why load high heat?
• Sweat - a system with deficits
• How much drink?
• Drink properly
• What causes heat stress?
• Risk driving a car
• Eat lightly
• Appropriate clothing
• Avoid physical stress
• Leave the heat outside
• Cool briefly
• Restrict alcohol
• air conditioning
• Watch out for medications
• Tips and Tricks

Why load high heat?

The human body has a natural cooling system with sweating. The greater the heat, the more the skin vessels are dilated and the more sweat the glands expel. It evaporates on the surface of the skin, keeps the skin so cool, and the temperature in the body remains stable.

However, if the heat is too high and lasts too long, or if there is still high humidity in the heat, the body's own cooling is not enough. There is a build-up of heat and we suffer because we have lost too much moisture through sweat. That can be dangerous! Especially if you already have cardiovascular diseases.

Possible consequences of the heat include dehydration, circulatory problems and headaches (Image: John Smith / fotolia.com)

Sweat - a system with deficits

Evolution is never perfect, it always "works" only with existing material. Our cooling system, sweating, also has major weaknesses. When we sweat, we not only lose moisture but also minerals. Excessive sweating therefore leads to a shortage of important substances such as calcium, potassium, magnesium, sodium, selenium, zinc and chromium. This deficiency causes concentration problems, drowsiness, fatigue and headache.

You can counteract the loss of water and minerals: Drink plenty of mineral water, isotonic drinks (which contain exactly the minerals that are lost in sweating), and / or fall back on broadband mineral supplements as a powder. Drink vegetable broth! It contains many of the nutrients lost through sweating.

How much drink?

At moderate temperatures, our body needs around 1, 5 liters per day. When it is very hot, this need increases threefold. A rule of thumb for desert tours in the Sahara or Sonora is: Do not drink until you feel thirsty. In extreme temperatures, it is almost too late, and the first signs of dehydration show up.

Once these first signs have arrived, it's damned fast: they lose their sense of direction, they get black in their eyes, they can no longer think clearly, they tire, they have hallucinations, headaches and pain in their bodies.

Drink properly

Therefore, do not drink sporadically by the liter, but consistently smaller quantities. Prepare a jug of water all day long and take a glass about every hour. If you do not drink for hours, then very much at once, the body can not absorb everything, and most of it will be eliminated. Also, do not drink too much in the evening. That disturbs sleep.

Incidentally, even if the temptation is great, enjoy the drinks lukewarm rather than freezing cold. The fall in temperature costs the body energy that it desperately needs. In hot countries like Morocco, people therefore traditionally drink warm mint tea. This is also one of the favorites in this country for drinks under the sun.

Limit the enjoyment of coffee and black tea and instead choose herbal teas, fruit teas or spritzers with elderflower syrup. Even fruit spritzers are great.

Regularly drink small amounts of lukewarm water relieves heat. (Image: samopauser / fotolia.com)

What causes heat stress?

You notice that the heat puts you under excessive strain when you feel exhausted, you feel sick and you react aggressively without the trigger justifying it. You become apathetic and are dizzy, you feel dizzy and you have a headache - especially on the forehead and temples.

Risk driving a car

Driving at outdoor temperatures above 30 degrees is dangerous. Inside the car, the temperatures reach (without air conditioning) up to 70 degrees. The heart is racing now, so you tire easily and feel dizzy. They respond more slowly to the events of the road, almost as if drunk. In heat, one-fifth more accidents happen than usual!

You should definitely ventilate well during car tours in the summer, by opening the window and car roof. Take longer breaks on long trips than you usually do. At rest areas, keep your forearms and face under running cold water. Take enough mineral water, isotonic drinks, fruit tea or fruit spritzers with you on the ride. If possible, drive at night and in the early morning.

Eat lightly

In case of high heat, you should eat lightly and avoid fat, hard-to-digest calorie bombs. Ideal is water and vitamin rich food such as fruits and many vegetables. Consequently, in hot countries, people swear by watermelons.

The heat falls in this country in the time of berry maturity, earth, Him, bromine, sting, blueberry and blackcurrant contain vitamins and minerals to a large extent, including those that are lost during sweating. Berry smoothies, berry juices, berry desserts, fruit cold bowls with berries or fruit salads with berries are perfect for the summer.

You can also "drink" the food: soups and fruit cold dishes are great for the heat! With good reason, the cold tomato soup gazpacho in Spain is national dish. A vegetable broth full of minerals, with broccoli, onions, celery and carrots, quickly becomes a "real" soup and a lunch in a hot time. Older people and the chronically ill should eat the soups better warm, not hot. The body then consumes no additional energy for temperature compensation.

You should eat ice cold food slowly! Ice cream, for example, is best left to warm slightly before swallowing.

Good summer dishes are: tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, zucchini, head, lettuce and lamb salad, pears, apples, quinces, cornelian cherries, the fruits of the rock pear, elderflower, dates, passion fruit, mango, oranges, lemons, limes, grapefruit, nectarines , Peaches, plums, figs, pineapple, khaki, pomegranate, kiwi fruit, bananas, whale and hazelnuts, almonds, poree, spring onions, water-like honeydew melons, grapes, all berries, coconuts (the meat like the juice and the marrow) and all cabbages.

Also important is food that contains a lot of salt, for example, raw ham with its pickling salts. Badly suitable are fat pork, high-fat sauces, luscious potato dishes, fatty sausages and high-fat cheeses.

Appropriate clothing

In hot countries, people usually wear long-sleeved shirts and dresses, wide-cut and in a light color. This prevents a heat build-up. Cotton is hardly suitable because it absorbs the sweat. They are always running around with a wet T-shirt. If there is wind now, the muscles stiffen. Viscose, tencel and lyocell are more suitable.

In strong sunlight, you should cover the head! The western cowboy hat was not designed to be particularly masculine, but was designed to protect workers from sunstroke in the heat of summer in the Plains.

If you spend a lot of time outside, you should also protect your neck. The American term "rednecks" for landing eggs comes from the fact that the rural farmers were recognizable by their red-tanned neck. This carries the risk, for example, of developing skin cancer.

Avoid physical stress

The circulation has enough to fight with the heat. In addition, if you exercise or work physically in the heat, you will be burdened with it. If possible, shift the sport to the early morning hours.

Leave the heat outside

Ventilate the apartment at night and in the morning and let the blinds or blinds down during the day. So the temperature stays bearable inside.

Cool briefly

If you are not lying on a quarry pond, you should temporarily provide relief. You can run cold water over your forearms or bath your feet. This narrows the vessels and strengthens the circulation at short notice.

Shower cool or lukewarm, not ice cold. In the worst case, otherwise the cycle collapses due to the temperature shock. In milder cases, at least headaches are the result. In any case, you do not sweat less but more.

Restrict alcohol

One hypothesis assumes that alcohol prohibition in Islam is due to the conditions of the Arabian desert where religion originated. In fact, the consequences of drinking alcohol are much worse when exposed to heat than at moderate temperatures. Alcohol dilates the blood vessels, the circulation is less blood available, which he urgently needs just in the heat. The kidney is running at full speed, they lose even more vital fluids and minerals. If you drink drinks with alcohol in heat, the body does not absorb any fluids, but loses them. In the evening, when temperatures drop, you can easily eat a glass of wheat beer, which will now provide you with lost nutrients.

air conditioning

Air conditioners should not be used uncritically. If the air current hits the body with full force, the muscles contract at these points, a cold can be the result - or a muscle spasm. If the airflow hits the eyes, headache is a possible consequence or an inflamed conjunctiva. People in hot countries are familiar with the phenomenon of "summer coughing", usually a series of air-conditioning systems in full swing.

Fans and air conditioners can cause colds (Image: Monika Wisniewska / fotolia.com)

As with the freezing cold shower: the difference between the outside temperature and the air conditioning should not be too big, otherwise the heat will beat inexorably!

Watch out for medications

If you are taking regular medications, talk to your doctor or pharmacist. This is especially true in summer for remedies that lower blood pressure. Because the heat also lowers blood pressure, which can make you fall below a critical level.

Caution is advised with St. John's wort. Not because of the heat itself, but because of the sun. If you take St. John's wort, you should provide sunscreen with a higher sunscreen, put on a sun hat and generally avoid the open sun.

Tips and Tricks

People from hot countries know a lot of tricks to deal with the heat. There are also some unconventional ideas.

1. If you wear oxfords, you can put the insoles in the fridge overnight. For a while you will have cool feet during the day.
2. Whether you work outside or in the office: put cooling elements in the freezer compartment and take them to the job. In between, put them over and over again on very hot spots.
3. Sleep! Not only the Spaniards cultivate the siesta, but also in Iran, Morocco or Egypt people escape the hottest hours by sleeping and dozing. Of course, this only applies if it is possible at work.
4. Spray! What is good for your house plants, you can also use for yourself. Put cool water in a spray bottle and spray it on your face when it gets unbearable again.
5. The beautiful compartments that they receive, for example, Spain and Italy as souvenirs, have a practical function. They fan cool air. They need no space and can provide you with coolness in almost any situation.
6. Put your legs up in between! Heat pushes the blood pressure down, and that can strain the veins. To compensate for these symptoms, lie down on a sofa, put your legs up, or occasionally stand on tiptoe.
7. Go swimming or bathing! If necessary, fill your bathtub with cool water and sit in it.
8. Go in the shadows! When you are outside, find a forest, where temperatures are lower. When you're in town, drive to the countryside where temperatures are three to five degrees lower. If neither is an option, at least sit under a tree with a spreading crown.
9. Avoid the car whenever possible and sit on the bike instead!
10. Cover the bed with satin. That cools!
11. Rub the skin with ice cubes, put your fingers in ice water and moisten them with their temples.
12. Hang damp cloths in front of the open windows when airing. As a result, the incoming air is cooled. You can also wrap yourself in damp cloths.

(Dr. Utz Anhalt)