by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
Everywhere in Northern Central Europe, including Britain, temperatures have been soaring in mid to end June 2010, to over 30C in some places and many people are, as usual, very ill prepared for this in body and mind.
Drinking as much water as possible is extremely important – and please note I did say water and not fluids, where I would be including coffee and tea, although they also play a part.
Another thing to ensure is that you get enough salt during these times for when you perspire you lose a great deal of the salt that your body needs to function properly.
This is a well known fact to everyone who has served in the military, for instance, and salt tablets were as much part of the water kit as were water purification tablets.
Tap water – despite from being chlorinated – is desalinated in most countries and hence a small pinch of salt with every glass of water you take is most advisable.
While it may sound great to open windows and doors you could create a through draft and ending up sitting in it. This in turn could create all kinds of sniffles to come your way.
Depending to the weather conditions leaving windows and doors open in such a manner can also, instead of cooling the house, bring in warm air and make things even worse.
However, forget the air conditioning. Just use a fan and put a bowl of water in front of it, if and where you can. This cools then by means of evaporated water and the air flow.
Nights during hot and humid conditions can be especially bad and lack of sleep, or sleeping badly, can make one irritable and grouchy and thus the next day is even worse the the one gone before.
Use only very light nightclothes or, better still, none at all, and only use a sheet or very thin blanket for a covering.
While it is sometimes suggested to leave windows open in the bedroom at night to cool the place down, you again could end up in draft, which might not help at all.
If need be without clothes on on the b ed without covering works great. That is how I have done it for years in such weather and never had a problem.
It has been found that children do especially well with that kind of regimen and you will find that, if they are given freedom, they will soon get themselves into such a sleeping position all by themselves.
It can be miserable in heat of 30C and more during the day and still have well above 18C during the night that every little helps, I think.
Once again, remember the old military adage of “hydrate, hydrate and hydrate again” and thins by,primarily, using water.
Have a water bottle with tap water (no need for bottled water, which is a waste of money anyway) with you wherever you go and also when you go to bed.
Have great and healthy summer...
© 2010
