How I Stay Cool During the Summer

    Hello there!

    Today's post is a summer version of this one, in which I went through the techniques I use to stay warm in chilly winter weather. Like in that one, I'm going to add a caveat that I don't live in the absolute coldest or hottest place ever (though I am in Utah, which is a desert, and we do get pretty toasty), so for the absolute extremes I may not know everything. Also, since I'll be talking about hydration, I have to add that I'm not a medical professional--I've just made some observations in my own body and done a bit of research and taken some basic science classes.

    Here we go!

    The most important thing to do during the summer is to stay hydrated. Just a few minutes before starting on this post, I heard a statistic on the radio that said that up to 75% of Americans suffer from chronic dehydration. I don't know the source used for this statistic; I'm sure it's Googleable. Still, it's pretty worrying, and since I work on a farm with a bunch of coworkers who aren't always good about bringing water to work with them (and because I was recently promoted to the position of Team Lead), I've been thinking about this topic--after all, it would be a Very Bad Thing if someone passed out from dehydration and heat exhaustion, especially while I was the manager on duty! I don't want that for my coworkers, and I've already resolved to gently tell them off about failing to bring water as the weather gets hotter.

    Before we can get to the concrete advice, though, we need to talk about solutions. If I get anything wrong and you know more about this than me, please correct me! This is just what I remember from the science classes I've taken.

    In my biology class, I learned that there are three primary kinds of solutions found in the bodies of most creatures--the hypotonic solution, in which there are not enough salts and too much water; the isotonic solution, in which the salts-to-water ratio is just about perfect; and the hypertonic solution, in which there are too many salts and not enough water.

    The other thing to remember is that salts cannot pass through the cell wall. If a cell wants to regulate solutions, it can only take in or expel water--the salts inside it don't change under normal circumstances.

    Therefore, a cell in a hypotonic solution will take in water to try and balance the salt and water ratios. If the solution is too hypotonic, the cell will take in so much water that it will explode. This kills the cell, obviously.

    A cell in a hypertonic solution will expel water to try and balance the ratios. If the solution is too hypertonic, the cell will expel all its water and shrivel up. This also kills the cell.

    In an isotonic solution, the cell is happy! It doesn't have to take in water, and it doesn't have to get rid of water. Conditions are perfect for growth.

    Now, the cells of the body are not solely responsible for making sure that the salts-to-water ratio in the bloodstream is healthy. That's not their primary focus, and they aren't equipped for the task. This is why we have kidneys! These little bean-shaped organs' entire job is to filter salts and water out of the bloodstream until the ratios are perfect. All excess salts and water are then sent to the bladder. After that, you probably know what happens. :)

    Okay. With that part of the science out of the way, let me explain why we need electrolytes.

    You see, when we sweat, we sweat out both salt and water. If you've ever been sweating heavily and licked the droplets off your upper lip, you probably know this, because your sweat is a bit salty. When we're hot and sweaty, we're pretty good at replacing our water reserves--but we're not always so on top of our salts.

    If our salt levels drop too low, then our kidneys will realize that the ratios are off and start filtering out water. This can be dangerous, because it means that the water we drink isn't doing us any good. It's going in, and then coming out, without doing any benefit along the way.

    Electrolyte is a fancy name for a salt. There are lots of kinds of salts (sodium chloride, or table salt, is only the most commonly known one) that the body needs. I don't know all the salts the body needs, just that they exist, and they're usually categorized under the term electrolytes in sport drinks and such. If I know correctly, which I might not, glucose is also categorized as an electrolyte because it's used to keep the cells full up on energy, and so we need to have a certain amount of glucose in our blood stream so the cells always have access to some extra reserves. This is partially why so many sports drinks contain sugar--sucrose is just a step or two away from glucose, so besides making the drink taste good, it's also supposed to help with energy levels. I think. It's... something like that.

    So, when you're drinking water to hydrate yourself, don't skimp on your electrolytes! My favorite things to use to give myself electrolytes are some kind of Himalayan-style rock salt (because it has additional trace minerals in it alongside the sodium chloride, and those can also be electrolytes) and lemon juice (because it contains vitamin C, among other things, and vitamin C is also an electrolyte).

    When I go to work on a hot day, my first waterbottle of water usually has somewhere between 2 and 4 tablespoons of lemon juice in it. I also have a "medicine pouch" in my backpack that contains, among other things, a little pill pouch full of salt. (If I start to lick my upper lip and the salt in my sweat tastes good, I know I need to get some salt. Inversely, if I take a taste of salt and it tastes nasty, I know I need more water.) I'm also considering buying some packets of dried-lemon-juice-stuff to add to my medicine pouch so I can add lemon to my waterbottle after I've drunk the first one dry, because the first waterbottle never lasts long.

    If you want to do further research from people who actually know what they're talking about, look up Liquid I.V. One of my coworkers is an EMT, and in our last Team Lead meeting she brought this stuff up as being pretty awesome. From a quick glance at their website I agree. Salt and lemon juice are my low-budget ways to keep hydrated, but if my manager takes this particular coworker's advice to keep a supply Liquid I.V. on hand, I certainly won't complain! (Fun fact about I.V.s in general--hydration I.V.s have to be a perfect isotonic solution or else there will be serious trouble, because you don't want to put something hypo- or hypertonic directly in the hopefully-isotonic bloodstream.)

    All right, yay! We got the sciency stuff out of the way. What else can we do to keep cool this summer?

    From here, what I have to say is, frankly, less important. Hydration during the summer is key. Everything else is just nice.

    When it comes to summer clothes, there seem to be two primary philosophies: Either you cover up as best you can to avoid sunburn, or you uncover as much as you reasonably can to vent heat. I think both are valid, and it really depends on who you are.

    For example, as someone who tans fairly easily, I prefer to uncover during the summer. I absolutely adore tank tops! I do try to avoid anything too revealing, since I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and the general rule is to dress in such a way that we aren't showing off our bodies, but if I know I'm going to be outside a lot and I'm not going to work, I put on a tank top so I can get some sun (and the resulting vitamin D) and work on my tan.

    However, I would not recommend the same thing for people with extremely pale skin. If you don't tan, please cover up! Sunburns really suck, and if you're not getting the benefit of extra melanin to protect you from future sunshine jaunts, wear your long pants and long sleeves and invest in lighter, flowier fabrics and styles to stay cool. I don't own anything made of linen, but I've heard it's really great for summer wear because it wicks sweat and heat away from the skin. If I ever find a garment in a style I like that is also made of 100% linen, you can bet I'll blow some money on it and buy it so I can test that out for myself.

    Also, if you're particularly at risk for skin cancer, cover up then, too. I personally don't stress about skin cancer, to the point that I ignore sunscreen, but if you or your doctor are worried about it, use sunscreen and cover up.

    Ultimately, how you dress during the summer months is a personal choice depending on which philosophy you ascribe to. If you want to tan, cover less and vent your excess heat; if you don't tan, cover more and wear looser clothes to help the wind whisk the heat away.

    Finally, I'm a big believer in bare feet. Again, you'll want to use your own good judgment on this one, but I personally love going barefoot when it gets warm outside. There's a book called Born to Run that goes through all the scientific principles and reasons why human beings are better barefoot, and I highly recommend it! However, I also have to recognize that modern life doesn't make going barefoot easy--if I was allowed to go barefoot at work, I still wouldn't, because I work on a farm and I want my feet to be protected if a pony or a cow steps on them.

    Also, never walk on asphalt in bare feet on a hot summer day. Asphalt is very pleasant an hour or two after the sun goes down, because it's nice and warm, but in the middle of the day avoid it like the Black Plague. My sister walked home from church barefoot once during the summer and didn't bother to avoid the asphalt, and when she got home she'd burned her feet pretty thoroughly.

    Still, I read in a book about sleep (I don't remember the name of the book or who the author was, unfortunately) that the hands and feet are two of the places where we vent most of our heat, so if you avoid asphalt and other situations where going without shoes is dangerous, going barefoot might actually help you stay cool. I don't have any really solid evidence for this, though, so again, use your good judgment to decide if you want to try going barefoot or not.

    Directly after this blog post comes out, I'll publish one with a bunch of tips on how to get started with walking barefoot. Who knows? If you write, you might even find this information useful for a character. :)

    Edit as of 8/13/24: I have recently learned that there are two types of heat--radiant heat (from the sun) and ambient heat (from the environment on the whole). When dealing with the two types of heat, you need two different techniques. For radiant heat, cover up; if the sun is hot and it's hitting your skin directly, it can heat up your body temperature and cause you to overheat. For ambient heat, though, get your skin exposed to the air so you can vent heat; even if it's still sunny out, if the ambient heat is high enough, covering up can do more harm than good.

    Furthermore, I have also discovered (and then learned why) some interesting tidbits about shade. For your information, if you need shade, seek it from a tree before you hide under a pavilion. While both are an improvement on a straight sunny day, trees are cooler to be beneath than pavilions are. The science behind this is that, while a pavilion will reflect the sun's heat back into the environment (incidentally increasing the ambient heat), a tree absorbs that heat via photosynthesis to create the energy it needs to live, meaning that trees actively reduce ambient heat.

    Which, you know, is great timing for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, who are just about to come out of Summer and enter into Fall, but for anybody in the Southern Hemisphere, I suppose you have your pre-Summer cooling advice. ;)