Mon, 13 Aug 2007

Heat and Sugar . . .

I listen to NPR, as I have said before, and sometimes things strike me. Today it was a statement to avoid drinks with sugar in them when it's hot. I got to thinking, "Why?" This being the Internet age, I started to search for the reason.

I found the advise on several sites, but no explanation as to why. One site said:

From 1979 to 2002, excessive heat exposure caused 8,966 deaths in the U.S. During this period, more people in this country died from extreme heat than from hurricanes, lightning, tornadoes, floods and earthquakes combined, public health district information said.

It went on to explain why sugar is bad:

Ice water in hot conditions has a tendency to cause abdominal cramps, but soda doesn’t do that as much, she said. However, soda causes the body to be dry and often contains caffeine, which elevates heart rates, and sugar, which the body immediately converts to energy which creates heat and causes a body to be drier than if it hadn’t consumed sugar, she said. The same story goes for alcohol.

OK, so now we know. Avoid alcohol and sugar because you will actually become dryer than if you didn't drink those things.

It's interesting that another story I heard on the way home was about Summer traditions, one of which was featured was to dring gin-and-tonics with their Aunt. She lived to be 92, so I guess that alcohol consumption -- hopefully in moderation -- didn't bother her all that much.

posted 18:11 [/Health] permanent link