Eating Ice Cream Won’t Beat the Heat, Science Says

With this heat that we suffer in North hemisphereThere is nothing we crave more after a meal or during a snack than a good ice cream. When we enjoy it, we feel its freshness filling us and for a moment, the warmth outside does not overwhelm us so much. However, it can eat ice cream when it’s hot not such a good idea. At least not in the long run.

A doctor explained this in 2019 Bogdan Lukhovoyprofessor of applied human nutrition at Mount Saint Vincent University in Canada. According to this scientist, eating ice cream cools us down in the short term, but later increases our body temperaturemaking us feel even more depressed.

It’s connected with fat and sugar content ice cream. We might think that not all of them have the same ingredients. But for it to be considered ice cream, it must by definition have minimum values, which are more than enough to release more heat. There are other ways to cool down that, although they do not have an ice derivative in their name, are much more effective.

Why does ice cream make us hot?

In Canada, ice cream must have 10% dairy fat to be considered as such. Other countries have different rules, but they also set a minimum fat level. For example, in Spain, cream ice cream must have 8% fat and those that are considered ice cream are just 5%. The rest of the options may be sorbets, water or milk ice creams, but they will not be traditional ice cream.

When we eat ice cream, we feel cold at first because temperature receptors that are in our mouths and even in our digestive system. However, when we start to digest them, the situation changes. When fats are broken down, a lot of energy is released in the form of heatThis phenomenon is known as diet-induced thermogenesis and, logically, this makes us feel even more suffocated.

Therefore, eating ice cream will not help us cool down in the short term. We need to make other food choices.

What can you eat to cool down?

The ideal option if we want to cool down with the help of a diet is not to eat ice cream, but to eat low fat foods. For example, it is recommended to use fruits and vegetables with high water contentlike cucumber or watermelon. We can also drink water flavored with, for example, lemon and mint. Both products help us to increase the feeling of freshness.

On the other hand, in the same statement in which he mentioned the consequences of eating ice cream, Lukhov also spoke about capsaicin. This substance gives a spicy taste to some foods, such as Padron peppers or jalapenos. It has been proven that taking it promotes sweating. Since this is our body’s natural cooling mechanism, it is very useful to combat the heat. However, this is somewhat curious, since the spicy also promotes thermogenesisso one effect must be compensated by another. According to Lukhovoy, this is a matter that should be studied further, but not enough has been done yet.

In short, we must be aware that eating ice cream will not cool us down too much. If we still want to have it because we like the taste, we have every right to. But if we are only looking for the cold, there will always be other options that are more refreshing and healthy. Of course, if we want it to be something that is sold in an ice cream parlor, then fruit sherbetsAnd if we prepare them ourselves at home, even better.