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Natural ways to keep your body cool during summer days

Retrieved from http://ethnichealthcourt.com/2013/04/04/natural-ways-to-keep-your-body-cool-during-summer-days/
  

By ethnichealth on April 4, 2013  

How to cool yourself without air conditioning 

Contents: Steps to keep your body cool, Best available foods which make u comfortable in summer season.

Best Tips

If you are feeling hot in a summer day and does not have an air conditioner for instance, that’s doesn’t matter. Now you can keep yourself cool in a hot day even without an air conditioner by following just this simple process.

Steps

1. Wet your wrists and other pulse points with cold water. Use a piece of ice wrapped in a face cloth, to continue after the coolness wears off. Constantly cooling off the wrists will also cool off the body. Never use just Ice make sure it is wrapped in a towel or something similar. Studies show that this will reduce your core body temperature by as much as 3 °F (1.5 ºC). The relief is almost immediate, and will last for up to one hour.
2. Use perspiration to cool the body down. Water vapor produced by sweating (avoid sweating too much) actually takes heat away from your body if it is exposed to air and allowed to evaporate. The best thing to do is to put your sweaty self in the path of a cool breeze or fan.
3.  Dress simply- Lightweight, loose-fitting clothing will help to keep you cooler, even better if it is light in color as this will reflect the heat and sunlight better. Shorts and short sleeved shirts are good choices, although a lightweight long sleeved shirt and pants are preferable if you’re hiking or working outdoors for any length of time, as this provides more protection against the UV rays. Cotton clothing tends to keep you cool; be careful of synthetics as they can increase heat, although some synthetic clothes are specifically made to reduce heat (check the labels).
Consider wearing less makeup. Too much makeup can impede sweating and make you feel hotter, especially around your facial area. A little matte powder for oil control may be suitable. For makeup and cosmetics that you do wear, consider storing them in the refrigerator. They’ll be refreshingly cool when applied to your face, body and feet straight from the fridge.
Wear less accessories during hotter weather. Metallic accessories can heat up considerably and less is always best when it comes to keeping cool.
If you’re worried about body odor, you might want to skip camisoles and tank tops, as these can make body odor more noticeable.
If you have long hair, wear it up and off your face and body. If you have short hair, consider keeping it very short to minimize the insulating effects of hair.

4. Glass Of Water. Drink water, even if you are not thirsty! You must replace fluids lost in perspiration to prevent dehydration. Oral re-hydration may be accomplished by drinking an electrolyte-balanced beverage. The electrolytes help to make sure you don’t lose vital minerals through sweating. Adding ice will also help cool you off. Avoid lemonade, iced tea, and other sugary drinks (see the Tips below). Ice does not actually help you cool off if it is in water you will drink. Cool water does, but the colder the water the more energy your body spends making it body temperature so that it can use it.
5. Wide-Brimmed Hat. Avoid direct sunlight. Stay in a shaded area if possible. Exposure to direct sunlight increases the heat index, so that your body may experience temperatures even higher than the air temperature! If you must go outdoors, go in the morning or evening. Wear clothes that cover up your body. A wide-brimmed hat is good. Light-weight, loose-fitting cotton clothing should be worn. It is better to wear a shirt with long sleeves and a collar to prevent any exposure. Some people (for example, Bedouins – In arid, low humidity climates) believe it is even best to wear 2 or more layers of clothes.
6. Go downstairs. Warm air is less dense than cool air so it tends up layered on top of the downward moving cooler air. If you’re in a house, for example, get lower than the roof. Make your way to the basement or lower level. It will be cooler there. Position a fan in an upstairs window to draw off heat collected in upper rooms–set it up so that it sucks air from indoors and pushes it outdoors.
7. Ceiling Fan. Keep the air flowing. Turn on the ceiling fan or box fan in the room. Do not make a fan out of paper and use it to wave air past your face and neck. Contrary to popular belief, the activity created by waving actually burns calories and raises your core temperature.
8. Prepare your home against the heat. In the evening, open windows and use fans to create a cross-breeze, circulating cooler evening/night air through the rooms. As soon as the sun hits the building the next morning, close all windows, blinds, and curtains, and keep doors and windows closed throughout the day until it is cooler outside than it is inside. Then you can open everything up again and cool off to be prepared for the next day. Leaving kitchen cabinets open all night helps too; if you leave them closed, they store the heat and your house won’t cool off as much.
9. Turn off the stove or other sources of heat. Incandescent light bulbs also create heat. Turn off your lamps, as well as your computer.

10. Cooling Off In The Water. Get wet! Take a cool shower or bath. Wet your hair. Fill a basin with water and sit with your feet in it. Go swimming in a pool. Use a wet cloth to keep your skin cool. Put a wet bandanna around your neck. Fill a spray bottle or squirt gun with water and spritz yourself. Run cool or cold tap water on the inside of your wrists. The water will cool down the blood flowing through your veins and arteries.