Taipei, Aug. 6 (CNA) Rather than cold beer or icy drinks, boiled tap water is the best way for people to cool down at the height of summer, a doctor suggested Monday.
People should avoid drinking alcoholic drinks during the scorching summer because they serve as diuretics that lead to dehydration, making it harder for the central nervous system to cool the body's temperature, said Pauling Chu, director of the sunstroke prevention center at Tri-Service General Hospital.
Those who spend time outdoors, exercise or bathe in the sun in the hot summer after drinking alcoholic beverages are more vulnerable to suffering heat stroke, Chu said, and he urged people to drink boiled tap water instead.
A recent experiment in the United States in which mice were kept in an incubator and given different amounts of alcohol found that those that had more alcohol dissipated heat more slowly and were more dehydrated than other mice, Chu said.
People scheduled to take part in a sports competition or road race should stay away from alcoholic drinks the previous night to reduce the possibility of sunstroke during physical exertion, Chu said.
Another alternative is sports drinks containing electrolytes, Chu recommended. But he warned against high-sugar drinks because they tend to both slow down water absorption in the human body and lead people to urinate, making it hard for people to get or stay hydrated.
