prevent you from being “cooked” inside

Summer is practically here and the thermometers do not stop rising with a heat wave that is at the doors of our country. But beyond the unbearable heat, another of the sensations that we can experience on these dates is the loss of appetite or we even see how our digestion becomes heavier when we eat something heavy. And behind this predilection for salads and the rejection of heavy dishes hides a sophisticated thermoregulatory survival mechanism that science has been studying for years.

A grandmother’s advice. When these times arrive, light meals such as the much-loved pasta salads appear on the table, but the reality is that it is not traditional advice, but rather it is a recommendation supported by scientific evidence to avoid heat stress, optimize our metabolism and protect our cardiovascular health. That is why in these coming months the largest meals should be a little further away for our own health.

The internal engine. To understand the reasons why we must opt ​​for light meals, we have to go inside our body. Here when we eat, our body needs to expend energy to digest, absorb and metabolize them, and this process, known as thermogenesis induced by diet, generates internal heat.

In this way, when we consume large or high-calorie meals, our heart rate rises and blood production doubles during the following two hours to assist the digestive system. Yes to this cardiovascular overload Add to that an extreme ambient temperature that sometimes exceeds 40 degrees, the cocktail can be dangerous.

It is studied. A study published in 2022 showed that a high-fat diet dramatically increases oxidative stress in muscles and doubles the risk of heat stroke when exposed to a temperature of 41°C. And, as we have mentioned before, heavy digestion causes greater oxygen consumption and an exacerbated generation of internal heat that predisposes the body to thermal stress.

The heaviest. To all this, it must be noted that overeating or eating foods rich in saturated fat during the summer triggers immediate consequences, such as digestive overload. This basically happens because the body tries to send blood to the skin in order to cool down and reduce its body temperature (that’s why we turn red), which delays the emptying of the stomach and makes us feel very heavy.

But in addition, foods rich in fat can generate endotoxemia and inflammation after finishing eating, accompanied by drowsiness that can last up to four hours after eating.

The advice in summer. In the face of heavy digestion, science points out a clear path that we should follow: extreme hydration, fiber and the Mediterranean diet. The historic PREDIMED study confirmed that this dietary pattern, naturally light and based on healthy fats and vegetables, reduces by 30% the incidence of cardiovascular diseases and reverses the metabolic syndrome that can arise in summer.

The objectives. The first of them is hydration, which must be very aggressive, but not only through drink, but also through food. Here there is food such as cucumber or watermelon, which have a composition of more than 90% water and are presented as essential tools to maintain basal temperature.

Our microbiota. Our intestinal bacteria also suffer from summer routine changes, as seen in a recent VHIR study carried out with more than a thousand people in Spain, which showed that a diet based on fruits, vegetables and nuts promotes a much more diverse microbiota and prevents dysbiosis. On the contrary, ultra-processed foods, alcohol and sugary drinks, which can increase in the summer, reduce bacterial diversity, bringing our intestine closer to inflammatory patterns.

Images | Lee Myungseong

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