Can drinking alcohol and eating high-calorie foods warm you up? How can you keep warm in cold weather?

When the winter cold wave hits, everyone has his or her own little tricks for keeping warm. Some put on long johns early, some use hot packs, and some keep warm by eating and drinking... But not every method of keeping warm is scientific and effective. Let's take a look at the misunderstandings!

0 1Can drinking alcohol and eating high-calorie foods warm your body?

In the cold season, many people like to have a few drinks, and think that drinking a little wine can warm the body and keep out the cold. But this is just an appearance. Drinking wine can neither warm the body nor keep out the cold, and it will make people feel colder the more they drink.

People do feel hot all over after drinking alcohol, because alcohol stimulates the capillaries on the surface of the body, causing them to dilate and thicken, speeding up blood circulation. Blood is concentrated in the capillaries of the skin, making the skin feel warm, or even hot, giving the illusion that drinking alcohol can resist the cold. However, only the surface of the skin feels warm, and this phenomenon of warming the body after drinking alcohol is only temporary.

Essentially, the body's heat consumption will increase accordingly, and the heat dissipated through the skin actually consumes more heat in the body. The heat consumed due to the accelerated heat dissipation rate is more than the heat provided by alcohol. When the speed of heat generation cannot keep up with the speed of heat loss, the body temperature will drop and people will feel cold.

In other words, drinking alcohol will not actually warm up your body, but will accelerate the loss of heat. After a while, you will feel colder and it will cause strange sensations in your body, and even lead to a cold.

Although some foods are high in calories, they may not necessarily warm the body. For example, fried foods, cookies, cakes and other foods are mainly composed of sugar and fat, which have a very low thermal effect and cannot effectively increase body temperature. Moreover, excessive consumption can lead to overnutrition and overweight.

0 2How to keep warm scientifically?

"Onion dressing method". In addition to wearing autumn clothes and autumn trousers to cool down, you can also try the "onion dressing method", which is to wear layers like an onion: wear clothes with good moisture absorption and perspiration function on the inner layer, wear sweaters, fleece sweaters and other warm clothes on the middle layer, and wear waterproof and windproof clothes on the outer layer that are easy to put on and take off. While ensuring sufficient warmth, it is also easy to put on and take off. In an environment with large temperature differences, you can switch at will to avoid catching a cold or sweating.

Increase the intake of protein food appropriately. You can increase the intake of high-protein food appropriately, such as livestock and poultry meat, fish and eggs. Red meat is also rich in easily absorbed heme iron. Increasing iron intake in the diet will enhance the ability to resist cold.

Do some outdoor exercise. Outdoor activities can promote heat generation, regulate metabolism, and enhance the excitement of the cerebral cortex and the body temperature regulation function. In winter, you need to exercise your muscles and bones appropriately and sweat a little to strengthen your body. Exercise should be a combination of movement and stillness. It is advisable to sweat only slightly when running or doing aerobics. Exercise should be done in the morning and afternoon when there is plenty of sunshine. Avoid the stimulation of cold to prevent diseases.

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Reference sources: People's Daily, People's Science Online, Healthy China