In hot weather we always reach for a glass of ice cold drink don’t we?
Imagine my surprise when I visited Turkmenistan in 1980s & saw people dressed up in long sleeve shirts, hats & drinking hot tea in the heat of the summer. Just to mention that the weather in Turkmenistan can get up to 122F.
Do they know something that we  don’t?
According to Peter McNaughton, a neuroscientist at the University of Cambridge, “The hot drink somehow has an effect on your systemic cooling mechanisms, which exceeds its actual effect in terms of heating your body,”
Yes, the hot tea warms up the inside of your body, your core, and therefore equaling the heat you feel on your skin, helping your body regulate its temperature.
As your body core feels warmer, the warmth outside your body feel more bearable hence the saying ‘a nice refreshing cuppa tea’ on a hot day.
