August 2015
&
35
FOOD BITES
By Angela S. Hoover, Staff Writer
Hot Beverages Can
Spicy Condiments
Keep You Cool In the Are the Result of
Heat
Ancient Battle
T
As counterintuitive as it may
Between Caterpillars
seem, drinking hot beverages in
and Plants
the summer can keep your body
cool. People in hot places such as
India have always known this, and
research now helps explain how
and why it works. The body’s way
of cooling down when we’re hot is
primarily through sweating – specifically by having the sweat evaporate from the skin. The body senses
changes in tissue temperature by a
network of thermosensors located
in the skin and more central parts
of the body. The thermosensors
send impulses to the hypotha