To my northern neighbours suffering from the current heat wave.
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As an Italian in the UK, I deliberately make efforts to get my body-adaptations going, when the season changes. And it works. 1st few times the T drops below 18C in Autumn feel awful, and come December it's the norm and I don't mind.
It's harder with extreme heat, as I can't make it happen regularly and on command, but I find that ability/disposition to sweat does respond to "training".
2/n
I had a mild heatstroke once hiking on a holiday, got around 30-35°C, steep uphill walk, unshaded slope, on the day after arriving from the UK.
At some point I realised *I was not sweating* (!!!), not at all, despite drinking plenty. Turned right back when I noticed, but was a little bit too late. I never thought this was possible.Now I cycle at least once a week, which keeps my ability to sweat ready for use (phew).
3/n
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I had a mild heatstroke once hiking on a holiday, got around 30-35°C, steep uphill walk, unshaded slope, on the day after arriving from the UK.
At some point I realised *I was not sweating* (!!!), not at all, despite drinking plenty. Turned right back when I noticed, but was a little bit too late. I never thought this was possible.Now I cycle at least once a week, which keeps my ability to sweat ready for use (phew).
3/n
But, when I visit family in Italy, my first steep cycling climb fails (2 years in a row). Body gives up and says "no more". Then the day after (with legs that should be already tired) it's fine. Only explanation I have is that the 1st failure acts as a strong signal: body needs to adapt to the heat - right now.
I might be wrong, but it's the only explanation I have, and fits with the observations of how long it takes for bodies to adapt to the heat.
4/n -
But, when I visit family in Italy, my first steep cycling climb fails (2 years in a row). Body gives up and says "no more". Then the day after (with legs that should be already tired) it's fine. Only explanation I have is that the 1st failure acts as a strong signal: body needs to adapt to the heat - right now.
I might be wrong, but it's the only explanation I have, and fits with the observations of how long it takes for bodies to adapt to the heat.
4/nAnyway, +1 (and then some) for the excellent advice.
Go SLOW (really!). Take ambient-temperature showers, or even warm, but NOT cold!
Hot drinks work, actually (also make you adsorb the water faster).
5/5 -
To my northern neighbours suffering from the current heat wave.
I lived in approx 38C with 90% humidity for 20 years, and I have a few pieces of advice.
1. Don't do anything fast that you can do slow.
2. Umbrellas aren't just for rain. They work for sun, too.
3. Sweat is your friend. Drink lots of liquid, eat and drink things that trigger sweating.4. Cold showers and baths trigger your body to warm up. Room temp showers work best - and don't bother drying off.
@Remittancegirl finally someone with good advice. The amount of "drink ice cold things and take cold showers" advices I've seen these last days.... I learned as a kid to drink lukewarm things and take warm, not cold showers (which could turn into a shock for an overheated body anyway), because lowering your core temperature with cold things gets your body to throw on the heating no matter the outside temperatures.
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To my northern neighbours suffering from the current heat wave.
I lived in approx 38C with 90% humidity for 20 years, and I have a few pieces of advice.
1. Don't do anything fast that you can do slow.
2. Umbrellas aren't just for rain. They work for sun, too.
3. Sweat is your friend. Drink lots of liquid, eat and drink things that trigger sweating.4. Cold showers and baths trigger your body to warm up. Room temp showers work best - and don't bother drying off.
@Remittancegirl heat and hot food correlate? I though it was just to keep it save
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Anyway, +1 (and then some) for the excellent advice.
Go SLOW (really!). Take ambient-temperature showers, or even warm, but NOT cold!
Hot drinks work, actually (also make you adsorb the water faster).
5/5@GraziosiSergio @Remittancegirl @noodlemaz I have always insisted on 'hot weather, hot drinks', but then tea is almost continuously brewed/poured/drunk in copious quantities all year-round in my house.
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@ebel All I can say is that the whole of Southeast Asia eats spicy stuff and curries, and I think there is method to this madness. It makes you sweat. Same with drinking hot chai and hot tea - which seems just so nuts in the heat.
As to salt... I didn't mention it, but it's important if you're sweating.
@Remittancegirl @ebel which is why, presumably, curries also have at least a modicum of salt in them.
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@VerenaRupp @Remittancegirl I was told this only works up to a given air humidity.
In those cases Putting a bottle of frozen water in a bowl in front of a fan seems to work better and also dehumidifies the air (again, hearsay, still need to try that)…
@dec_hl @VerenaRupp @Remittancegirl Ah, but remember that making things frozen also heats up the air around the fridge or ice maker, so can be counterproductive, and water from a tap should work as well, as it evaporates, the remainder gets colder.
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@GraziosiSergio @Remittancegirl @noodlemaz I have always insisted on 'hot weather, hot drinks', but then tea is almost continuously brewed/poured/drunk in copious quantities all year-round in my house.
@UkeleleEric @GraziosiSergio @Remittancegirl I don't subscribe to that one, hot drinks make me feel like I'm having a hot flush in this weather. No thx
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To my northern neighbours suffering from the current heat wave.
I lived in approx 38C with 90% humidity for 20 years, and I have a few pieces of advice.
1. Don't do anything fast that you can do slow.
2. Umbrellas aren't just for rain. They work for sun, too.
3. Sweat is your friend. Drink lots of liquid, eat and drink things that trigger sweating.4. Cold showers and baths trigger your body to warm up. Room temp showers work best - and don't bother drying off.
@Remittancegirl
I'm not in an extremely humid or hot place, but I like to freeze some water in a water bottle and put it on the floor for my cats to cuddle while I'm at work. They sit next to it like a little AC unit that radiates cold
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@suearcher Apparently she will, sadly.
Umbrellas really do help if you have to spend much time in direct sun.
@Remittancegirl @suearcher those who are not exposed to other European languages may not realise that an umbrella can be a parapluie *or* a parasol
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@Remittancegirl No, I absolutely don't think you're lying or anything like that. 38C dry-bulb is definitely happening in many places, also the humid ones.
Also, your hot-weather advice is very sound and good.
Just that during the peak-temperature hours, the relative humidity is likely even lower than 80% even during the wettests months, as 38C with even 80% is 34.8C, still on the edge of survival for humans. Vietnam is not listed to ever get above 34C in this list: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wet-bulb_temperature#Heat_waves_with_high_humidity
@vriesk
FFS dude, no.@Remittancegirl
Sorry you got "akshually"d on your lived experience, good grief. -
To my northern neighbours suffering from the current heat wave.
I lived in approx 38C with 90% humidity for 20 years, and I have a few pieces of advice.
1. Don't do anything fast that you can do slow.
2. Umbrellas aren't just for rain. They work for sun, too.
3. Sweat is your friend. Drink lots of liquid, eat and drink things that trigger sweating.4. Cold showers and baths trigger your body to warm up. Room temp showers work best - and don't bother drying off.
@Remittancegirl If you really need to cool down, but can’t take a shower or put a damp towel in your neck: hold your wrists under cold (but not ice-cold) running water. The blood vessels run close to the surface there, so you’ll cool down quickly.
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@Su_G @Remittancegirl If polyester or rayon must be accepted as one of your only options, opt for the lightest colors, and preferably mesh design. A more organic sun block with a 15 rating, instead of the more expensive 30, 50, etc., under the mesh, helps layer resistance while adding more value to skin layers, glandular secretion, etc..
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@VerenaRupp What a good tip! And it dries your laundry too!
It is very good for high, dry temps.
@Remittancegirl #permaculture is no stranger to salt in burlap sacks.
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To my northern neighbours suffering from the current heat wave.
I lived in approx 38C with 90% humidity for 20 years, and I have a few pieces of advice.
1. Don't do anything fast that you can do slow.
2. Umbrellas aren't just for rain. They work for sun, too.
3. Sweat is your friend. Drink lots of liquid, eat and drink things that trigger sweating.4. Cold showers and baths trigger your body to warm up. Room temp showers work best - and don't bother drying off.
@Remittancegirl I looked it up and 38c is 100f, which is pretty similar to some places in the southern US with that much humidity (thankfully haven't hit that yet this year where I'm at).
I gotta keep reminding myself to drink more water. It's crazy how easy it is to get dehydrated without realizing it. All those tips are helpful, that's just the one I struggle with
. "I don't care if you feel dehydrated, you're dehydrated. Drink some water!" -
@Secret_Squirrel @Remittancegirl @svenscholz my experience comes mostly from (north) California, Florida, and Louisiana, so I don't know.
They all look more like a lazy construction work than anything (mounting a non-split unit on the top of the window is harder than just ripping a hole under said window and putting the thing on the floor).
@vriesk @Remittancegirl @svenscholz Ah, those. Yeah, daft. Cheap construction yields crap results
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Are you sure about those numbers? 38C with 90% humidity is 36.5C wet-bulb.
That is not survivable by a human and sweating does not cool one down at all in such a temperature. Also, according to Wikipedia, the highest recorded wet bulb temperature ever was 36.3C in UAE.
@vriesk @Remittancegirl yes and no.
We have 80-90% humidity even in this heatwave in the UK- but yes you are correct during the day when it's hiting high 20's - 30'sC the humidity goes down to 40-50%.
BUT if the temps don't lower at night, which they didn't in May when we hit a record 35C, and will go over that tomorrow most likely....then you have 20-25C at that humidity.
That might be 'survivable' but you melt.
I think only people in really humid places like Durban know why our heat 'hits different' - it seems that the US has more dry heat...and before some wag says 'Florida!' as if it's some gotcha, been there in Summer, It was fine, there were coastal breezes, maybe in the middle of a swamp it would be bad, but don't forget the UK is an entire country of bogs, marshes, lakes, rivers....that rains a lot.
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@Remittancegirl @svenscholz yeah, that's extreme.
BTW, do fans still help at those temperatures and humidities?
I'm always surprised how big of a difference sitting next to a fan makes in the somewhat less extreme 35C with low humidity, maybe even a bit better (but very localized) than just AC.
@vriesk @Remittancegirl @svenscholz also we don't have AC in Europe.
Not going to get into a big argument about why, because some entitled Yanks think their wars for oil are a good trade off for subsidised energy/oil costs.
We have really high energy costs, so even if the AC is cheap to install (it isn't but not the highest cost) then the energy cost will burn you, even if you're cool.
Also...most of our building were built before A/C was a thing, so hard to adapt, more expense.
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@Remittancegirl @svenscholz Which makes me really wonder why on Earth the floor-mounted internal AC units are so popular in the US.
@vriesk @Remittancegirl @svenscholz I think the floor vents in southern homes are a combination of a hold-over of older houses that had a heater for the winter but relied on open windows and air flow in summer, people bringing northern building practices south without considering the local climate (more than half the US is in climates where heating is more important than cooling), and slow cultural change where floor vents and ceiling fans are seen as normal or classic and upper wall vents are seen as unsightly.
Also, many older houses built with floor vents are poorly insulated, and at least in Florida, many people *suffer* when it gets to 50-55 F (10-12C).
