Is it okay to drink coffee on hot days? What effect does coffee have on the body? Should one rather drink cold coffee? Many people ask us these questions, here are our answers!
First, let's break down our message into several parts:
1, Drink plenty of fluids!
In hot weather, the body needs a lot of fluids to maintain an ideal temperature through evaporation. The best solution for this (surprisingly) is drinking water. Everyone has a different ideal amount, but the basic rule is that if someone is already thirsty, it's too late; thirst is the body's "distress signal"... (So, you should constantly drink small amounts before you get thirsty!)
2, Hot drinks cool you down!
The heat receptors in the mouth and throat "switch on cooling" when exposed to hot drinks (or food), meaning the body starts to sweat. The sweat evaporates from the skin surface, and evaporation draws heat away, causing the body to cool down and feel less hot. If someone is wearing restrictive clothing or cannot afford to sweat heavily, they should, of course, avoid hot drinks. However, if there are no such limiting factors, hot coffee or tea actually cools you down. (Think of the hot mint tea served to everyone in the Istanbul bazaar!)
3, You can drink coffee even during a heatwave!
Considering the above, there's no problem with drinking coffee in summer. It is a mistaken belief that coffee dehydrates (the fluid in it is more than what one loses, and if you drink it with milk, tonic, or simply a glass of water, you are already hydrated). Regardless, fluid replacement should never be solely coffee! However, since coffee, and especially the caffeine in it, affects the body, which is already stressed by the heat, it's advisable to reduce the amount and only drink decaffeinated coffee from early afternoon onwards!
In summary:
There is no physiological reason not to drink coffee during a heatwave. Of course, one should not overdo it, but consuming the normal, usual daily coffee dose is not forbidden; in fact, it is recommended!
If you're curious about our best cold coffee recipes, click HERE!