What to eat and drink to stay cool during a heatwave

As the heatwave burns on, “the last thing people want to do is turn on the oven”, said the BBC. Sweltering weather can suppress your appetite and make it harder to concentrate or sleep. Could tweaking your diet help?

Crucially, it’s important to “drink more” to replace the liquid lost through sweat. But there are other ways to rehydrate than keeping your bottle topped up. “We need to eat our water as well as drink it”, said Aisling Daly, senior lecturer in nutrition at Oxford Brookes University. Fruit and vegetables like watermelon, celery, cucumbers, grapes and tomatoes have a “very high water content” of over 90%, making them great to snack on.

Sweating also “depletes our electrolytes”, said The Telegraph, which play an important role in helping our nerves and muscles to work properly. Instead of relying on powders or gels, try stocking up on coconut water or the yoghurt-based drink lassi, which are both natural sources of electrolytes and packed with magnesium.

It’s worth making yourself a cup or two of mint tea, or mixing the fresh leaves through a salad. Mint contains menthol, which scientists have found activates your mouth’s cold sensitive receptors and “triggers the same response as touching ice”.

Spicy foods can also be beneficial as peppers and chillies contain capsaicin – a compound that “tricks the nervous system into thinking the body is hot, encouraging you to sweat and cool down”. Avoid heating up the kitchen by having a barbecue outside instead and marinating your kebabs in a spicy marinade.

And what should you steer clear of? Salty nuts and crisps, caffeinated artificially sweetened drinks like Diet Coke, or a glass of wine might sound appealing in the heat but they “won’t leave you feeling your best”, said Metro. Their high salt content can “encourage water retention” and make you “bloated and uncomfortable”, said nutritionist Lola Biggs. Instead, for a “satisfying crunch”, try whipping up a batch of paprika-roasted chickpeas.