Keeping cool in the summer (go back »)

It can be difficult to get through hot summers. The high temperatures can easily get on our nerves. There are many ways to seek a temporary relief, like eating cold food, staying in air conditioning, wearing relaxed clothing, and spending time in the water. But too much of these cool things can also bring discomfort. The following are some tips to keep healthy and cool in the summer:

Avoid eating too many cold foods

In the summer, the blood vessels beneath the skin expand so as to emit more heat inside the body to cool down. But when you eat too many cold things, blood vessels in the stomach and intestines contract, and even less blood flows into these organs, increasing the chances of stomach discomforts like stomachaches and diarrhea.

Tips:

1. Those suffering from acute or chronic gastritis or enteritis should not eat too much cold food, as they not only exacerbate the pain but also inhibits an appetite.

2. Avoid eating cold things after intense exercise, or immediately before and after meals. Don't eat cold and hot things together.

3. Eating too many cold things at once could dilute your gastric acid, which could affect your digestion.

4. Keep cold food in cool and sanitary conditions. E-coli can even survive when the temperature falls below zero Celsius. Make sure the cold food is fresh and clean before eating them.

Take care sitting in an air-conditioned room.

The air in an air-conditioned room often doesn't have enough negative ions, which makes it easy for one to get tired, difficult to concentrate and hard to work efficiently. Low temperatures can also easily lead to backache, arthralgia, or pain in the joint and dry throat.

To avoid these discomforts, pay attention to the following tips.

1. Decrease the difference between the outdoor temperature and indoor temperature. Try not to sit directly under the air conditioner.

2. If you sit in an air-conditioned room all day long, wear a jacket. You can also cover your knees with a blanket and get up to take a walk every other hour to keep your blood circulating.

3. Keep the office windows open to let fresh air in to cut down on the growth of harmful microbes.

4. Do some outdoor exercises everyday to increase blood circulation in your body. This will also help your body adapt to the temperature differences between indoors and outdoors.

5. Have a proper diet. Increase your intake of ginger and pepper, which stimulate your appetite and prevents you from catching a cold.
Stay out from the sun as much as possible.

Those who have light-sensitive skin need to take particular precautions against too much sunshine if they want to avoid getting skin redness, swollen or water blisters. And too much sweat may also affect other skin types.

To help you get through summer sunshine, pay attention to the following tips:

1. Try to avoid direct contact with the sun's rays. Take an umbrella with you and wear sunglasses.

2. Take more vitamins to help increase your skin's ability to withstand the sun. Those who have light-sensitive skin should also avoid eating light-sensitive foods, such as caraway seeds, leek, white turnip as well as soy sauce.

3. To keep cool, avoid putting on tight clothes. Wear thin, loose, soft, light-colored and breathable clothes. If you stay outdoors most of the time, then have clothes that cover most of your body.

4. Keep your skin clean. Exfoliate your skin and take showers or baths to keep cool.

Tips for swimming.

Those who swim outdoors will enjoy the cool breeze and fresh air, but it also put their skin in a vulnerable situation. Always remember to apply sunscreen that is over SPF 30 and waterproof.

Make sure the water you're swimming in is clean, as dirty water can lead to contracting conjunctivitis and dermatitis.

To stay away from these discomforts, you need to pay attention to the following tips.

1. Apply some eye drops before diving into the water to avoid getting conjunctivitis. Apply counter- chlorine cream to your body if you are swimming in a man-made pool. It helps prevent the chlorine from drying out your skin.
2. After a swim, take a shower to get as clean as possible, and wash your hair. Use a shower gel especially made for swimming which helps get rid of the chlorine smell.

3. Women should not swim when they have their period.

4. How to cool your skin down from too much sun exposure:

Soak a cotton make-up pad in a moisturizing lotion and then put it in the refrigerator to cool it for five minutes. Take it out and then use it to pat the red and burning areas on the skin. This will calm the redness and soothe the swollen skin.

Soak cucumber slices in milk and put them in the refrigerator for 10 minutes. Apply the slices to your face to help the skin cool down.

When the skin is burnt and dries into a hard layer, don't scratch it off. Instead, keep this area moisturized and eventually the dead skin will fall off.