It’s hot. Much hot. So much so that I can think of no other way to start this article. The thermometer marks 39 degrees in Madrid and it will not move from there no matter how cloudy it gets, it gets dark or we put the fan on full blast. We melt under a totally unusual heat wave for the time of year it arrives: mid-June. Up to 15 autonomous communities are on alert for high temperatures and many of them, such as Castilla y León, Extremadura, Madrid and Catalonia in an orange alert situation.
This is the earliest wave that affects Spain since there are data and also the intensest June in the last 20 years. The figures recorded by thermometers are unimaginable, we have commented on Magnet: until 68 Aemet observatories measured this week more than 40 ° C. In Córdoba it almost reached 43ºC, as well as Ciudad Real and Jaén. Granada reached 41.1ºC and Albacete 40.6ºC. The highest temperatures were 42.3ºC in Toledo and 42° in Granada.
At this point, in which not even the fan seems to have an effect, in which the water spray that we went down to buy at the supermarket on duty is not even noticeable and in which having the windows open is equal to nothingWe ask ourselves: what is left for us to do? Resign ourselves to overwhelm and dizziness? To spend 20 of the 24 hours drenched in sweat? To shower three times a day? To “die” from heat?
Nope.
Perhaps it is time to go further. And think about what those cultures that have braved the heat for centuries in the most remote and hottest places on Earth would do right now. For example, those desert men who, mounted on their camels, spent long hours under the scorching sun. The question haunts us why the Bedouins were dressed in black on those occasions. Something that science has tried to answer in dozens of studies. White t-shirt vs black t-shirt on hot days: a summer classic. Let’s start by answering this.
dark clothes better than light
Common, mundane logic would say that white objects reflect light. Therefore a white t-shirt would reflect most of the sunlight and would not store heat. This is partly true. On the other hand, black is known to absorb heat from the sun at a faster rate than white. This is also true. Black, in fact, is the visual perception of a surface that absorbs all ranges of visible light; in the same way that white is due to the “bounce” of all visible light ranges. Black absorbs 98% of radiation, we have explained it here.
If this is the case, why do Bedouins in the desert regions of North Africa wear black in sweltering areas? There must be a plausible reason. Well, a study published in the journal Nature in 1980 explained that the key lies in the skin and the thickness of the clothing. Heat not only comes from the sun, it also comes from the body itself., sweaty and hot-blooded, which is much closer than the sun. When all that body heat hits the white clothing that covers us, it is reflected back to our own body. That is, when we wear white, we roast ourselves.
According to the study, in the case of clothing, the outer layer of black fabric gets hotter because the color absorbs more heat. But that heat doesn’t reach the skin if the fabric is thick enough. In this case, if the black clothing is very loose and not stuck to the skin (a key factor), an upward draft can form in the space between the fabric and the skin, which would give us a cooling sensation.
hot drinks better
Among other lessons that we can learn from these desert cultures is the consumption of hot drinks in very hot times. Wait, drink hot when we languish in the hellish sun? Yes. As we mentioned in this other Xataka article it is advisable to drink hot drinks when it is very hot because these help regulate body temperature better than cold ones.
There are many scientific studies in this regard: the increase in the heat load on the body from drinking a hot drink produces an increase in the global production of sweat whose evaporation compensates for the internal heat. Especially since hot drinks are digested very quickly. Of course, this does not happen with copious meals or alcohol intake. It is the same thing that happens when we eat spicy food: the heat that we feel (and that is not real) ends up giving good thermal results to the body.
There is a big difference between something that is cool to the touch or taste and something that actually cools your body. Most of us we are deceived by sensations, as this Healthline article explains. For example, when eating ice cream, we try to get a chill by eating something frozen, but it only cools our mouth for a while. Once it interacts with body temperature and the digestive fire acts on it, that cooling temperature disappears.
In some cases, cooling herbs can help us better withstand the heat as they can lower the body’s temperature and cool its tissues. Some examples are: lemongrass, chrysanthemum, lemon balm, lavender, spearmint, peppermint, and chamomile. Diaphoretics also promote perspiration, or sweating. These are: peppermint, lemon balm, catnip, elderflower and chamomile.
warm shower to sweat less
All this brings us to another common question these days. Do cold showers help avoid heat and sweat? Well, as you can imagine by now, no. Cold showers do not help beat the heat or prevent sweating as body temperature is down-regulated by the effect of cold water. Once you’ve finished showering, your body readjusts its temperature to the ambient temperature and instead regulates it up. come on what you end up sweating even more than before.
Our bodies respond more to changes in skin temperature. If we cool a part of the body (for example, with a cold shower), the blood flow to the skin decreases and the skin temperature drops. That’s why we “feel” fresher. But because less blood is flowing to the skin, we’ll actually be holding more heat inside, leading to an overall unwanted rise in temperature.
To sweat less when it’s hot, it’s best to take a shower with lukewarm water so that the body does not regulate its temperature upwards.
Image: Unsplash