Hot tea and coffee guidance as UK to face at least 39C temperatures
Britain is about to hit by some seriously hot weather – but should you change what you drink? The Met Office has issued a red extreme heat warning for Wednesday and Thursday.
The forecasters say June’s all-time daily record temperature is set to be broken. And these warnings come after amber extreme heat warnings were issued.
The alerts run from Monday until the end of Thursday, and cover much of southern and central England as well as much of Wales.
People will be taking every possible measure to remain cool and safe, whether that involves drawing the curtains, seeking shade, staying hydrated or treating ourselves to a well-earned ice lolly. The last thing on most people’s minds is switching the kettle on and preparing a steaming hot cuppa.
Yet surprisingly, hot beverages such as teas and coffees might actually help cool you down.
Research conducted in 2012 by academics from the University of Ottawa examined the impact of consuming hot drinks on body temperature. The findings showed that a hot beverage can indeed cool you down, though only in dry conditions.
Speaking to the Smithsonian Mag, Dr Ollie Jay, one of the authors of the study, explained: “If you drink a hot drink, it does result in a lower amount of heat stored inside your body, provided the additional sweat that’s produced when you drink the hot drink can evaporate.”
In essence, when you consume a hot drink, your perspiration increases. If the sweat can evaporate properly, it genuinely cools you down, more than offsetting the extra heat introduced to the body from the liquid.
While sweating can feel uncomfortable, it’s a vital bodily function that helps regulate our temperature. As perspiration evaporates from your skin’s surface, it eliminates excess heat by transforming the water from liquid to vapour.
Nevertheless, in humid conditions, this cooling mechanism becomes less effective, meaning hot drinks won’t assist in cooling you down. Dr Jay explained: “On a very hot and humid day, if you’re wearing a lot of clothing, or if you’re having so much sweat that it starts to drip on the ground and doesn’t evaporate from the skin’s surface, then drinking a hot drink is a bad thing. The hot drink still does add a little heat to the body, so if the sweat’s not going to assist in evaporation, go for a cold drink.”
The key takeaway is that in hot, arid conditions, consuming a hot beverage can actually cool you down, whereas in humid environments, you’re far better off reaching for something cold.
