6 surprising science-backed ways to beat the heat

Summer is finally around the corner, bringing lots of opportunities for outdoor adventures. With more free time, it’s easy to spend entire days splashing at the pool or visiting local parks with friends.

Those outdoor activities are all well and good — until temps rise into dangerous territory. And thanks to climate change, that’s happening more and more often. The last three years have been the hottest ever recorded. So it’s more important than ever to know how to keep cool.

“For the most part, we think that the sun is fun,” says Roxana Chicas. She’s an environmental and occupational health scientist at Emory University in Atlanta, Ga. “But it can also be very dangerous.”

Thousands of people die every year from overheating. Many more get sick. Heat-related illness happens when the body’s core temperature starts to climb. Normally, our bodies keep cool in hot weather by sweating. As sweat evaporates off the skin, it takes heat with it. But when it’s too hot and humid, that cooldown slows, and our core temperature rises.

“It’s like having a fever,” Chicas says, and it triggers similar symptoms, such as headaches and muscle aches. “If your core body temperature continues to rise, those symptoms start to get more severe,” she says. You might become confused, vomit or even faint. That last one is super serious. If someone faints in the heat, it’s a medical emergency.

Chicas studies how people can keep cool on hot days. That’s especially important for people who spend a lot of time outside, such as farm and construction workers. But they’re not the only ones who need to watch out for high temps. “Older adults, young children and high-school and college athletes who condition outdoors” are also at risk, Chicas says.

Fortunately, summer safety doesn’t have to mean staying indoors where it’s air conditioned. To make the most of your time outside, here are some innovative, science-backed ways to beat the heat.

1. Surround yourself with green

Green spaces have consistently cooler temperatures than areas without plants. One reason is that trees provide shade. Another is that plants release moisture from their leaves. As the water evaporates, it cools surrounding air.

Parks and yards are great places to enjoy these effects. But not everyone lives in places with yards or trees, and you probably don’t have much say in what’s planted along your street. If you have a porch, deck or balcony, potted plants can do the trick too.

In a 2024 study, researchers in India placed a variety of potted plants on a balcony. They then measured surface temperatures as well as the air temp inside and out. They measured again when the balcony was bare.

When it had greenery, the balcony stayed consistently cooler than when it was plant-free, they found. The balcony itself was cooler by 3.3 degrees Celsius (5.9 degrees Fahrenheit). Potted plants also dropped indoor temps by 2.3 degrees Celsius (4.1 degrees Fahrenheit). This was true both day and night, making rooms more comfortable for sleeping.

If you don’t have a balcony, you could plant window boxes to achieve a similar effect. These plants also help shade windows, which cuts how much heat comes in through the glass. So even if you have air conditioning, window plants could reduce how often it has to run — making your home an oasis of cool between outdoor hangouts.

2. Cover up — the right way

Shorts and tank tops might seem like the best fashion choices when it’s hot out. But when the sun’s rays hit your skin directly, they raise its temperature. So if you’re going to be in the sun for hours on end, bare skin will actually make you hotter.

Just one layer of clothing reduces the impact of those rays to help you stay cooler, says Asis Patnaik. He studies textiles for clothing and other uses at Cape Peninsula University of Technology in Cape Town, South Africa.

Sometimes, one layer of cloth isn’t enough to shield skin from the beating sun. In areas with extreme heat, including the Middle East, people often wear multiple layers of loose clothing. The air gaps between each layer act as insulators, Patnaik explains. They help keep hot outer layers away from the skin.

Patnaik also recommends clothes made from natural fibers, such as cotton or linen. These materials contain openings that allow sweat to move away from the body. When that sweat evaporates, it cools your skin.

Synthetic materials, such as polyester, can have the opposite effect. “If you [wear] polyester clothing, then you will feel very, very hot,” Patnaik says. These clothes often hug the body more closely. And their fibers lack openings, so there’s no way for sweat to leave the skin. If you opt for synthetic exercise clothes, be sure they have mesh under the arms. Mesh allows air to move through the fabric, which dries sweat and cools you down.

One last thing to consider? Color. “If the sun is blazing, you don’t wear black clothing,” Patnaik says. Dark colors absorb heat and pass it on to you. Light colors reflect more sunlight to help you stay cool.

3. Try a new hairstyle

Just like clothing, hair protects the skin from direct sunlight. Bald people sweat two to three times more on their heads than people with hair do, research has found, suggesting that hair helps keep the scalp cooler.

The texture of your hair matters too, according to a 2023 study. The coolest hair? Curls.

Tina Lasisi led this research. She’s a biological anthropologist at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Curly hair “provides a barrier [above] the scalp, like a parasol,” Lasisi says. It blocks the sun from reaching the skin, while leaving room for airflow that carries heat away from the head. Straight hair is more likely to trap heat.

If you’re lucky enough to have curly hair, consider rocking your natural curls for the summer. If your hair is straight but long enough, you might consider getting a perm or putting your hair in overnight curlers. If you’ve got short hair, a color change might help.

“There’s research on mammals showing that if an animal has short hair, lighter hair [color] reflects more heat,” Lasisi explains. Once hair gets more than two inches long, though, color seems to play less of a role in those mammals.

Lasisi’s study is one of the first to examine the role of curly hair in regulating body temperature. “There’s lots we still have to learn,” she says. But her early work suggests a trip to the hairdresser might be in order to help you keep a cooler head. If you don’t have hair, a hat can add a layer of protection from the sun’s rays.

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4. Protect your neck

If you have long hair, chances are good you put it up when it’s hot out. That improves airflow across the neck — but exposes skin to hot sunlight. Covering the neck with a cooling bandana can protect against both sunlight and heat-related illness.

Chicas and her team put this to the test in a 2021 study. The scientists had farm workers wear cooling gear while they worked outdoors in Florida in late spring. Some wore cooling bandanas, which were made of a special lightweight material soaked in water. Some had cooling vests. Others wore both. A fourth “control” group didn’t wear either one.

People who wore both a vest and a bandana had 80 percent fewer symptoms of heat-related illness compared to the control group. These symptoms included headaches, nausea or vomiting and muscle cramps. People who wore only the bandana kept their core body temperature in the safest range.

The bandana was probably effective because we have big blood vessels in the neck, Chicas says. “We don’t want the brain to overheat,” she says. “That is what controls the body’s temperature.” Cooling the blood headed to the brain seemed to keep the body’s temperature in check.

If you don’t have a special cooling bandana, you can soak a regular one in cold water. Then wring it out and wrap it around your neck.

5. Chillin’ from the inside out

If you do start to overheat, it’s important to bring your body temperature down to a safe range. An excellent — and tasty — way to do that is to enjoy a slushie.

Slushies — or ice slurries, as scientists call them — aren’t simply cold drinks. These kinds of beverages contain lots of tiny ice crystals, sort of like dunking a Sno-Cone in your drink. They help because every sip brings bits of ice into the body. There, the bits absorb heat from surrounding tissues, which lowers body temperature. Slurries cool us from the inside out faster than cold liquid alone.

An added benefit to ice slurries: They can help prevent overheating. If you exercise outdoors, drinking a slurry before you start can help keep your body cool during your workout. It can also boost your endurance, so you can stay active for longer.

Even better, slurries help cool the brain, according to a 2018 study from Japan. And just like a bandana around the neck, that can keep the rest of the body in check too.

6. Add a hint of mint

For the best cooling burst, consider making your slushed ice treat minty!

Minty flavors, such as peppermint, are often described as cooling — and it turns out they can actually make us feel cooler. That’s because they stimulate the sensors in the body that detect dropping temperatures, says Russell Best. He’s a sports nutritionist at the Waikato Institute of Technology in New Zealand.

In a 2023 review of past research, Best reported that consuming menthol or putting it on the skin helps us feel cooler. Menthol is the most common compound found in peppermint oil. It’s often found in creams and gels for the skin. Menthol and peppermint can also “be added to drinks, ice blocks and even water sprays at low doses to help us feel comfortable during heat waves or on hot days,” he says. Feeling cooler can help athletes compete for longer when it’s hot and humid, research has found.

But minty additives, especially menthol, need to be used in low doses. Too much causes our blood vessels to tighten up, Best says. That reduces blood flow in our skin and makes it harder to release body heat. So avoid menthol creams or gels if you don’t have access to shade or water, he suggests.

Another thing to consider: “Menthol only helps us feel cool. It doesn’t actually cool us down,” Best notes. And if you don’t feel as hot, you might stay outside or be active longer than you should. Menthol and mint also suppress thirst, which can make it hard to stay hydrated.

If you do use mint in the heat, “consider drinking to a plan,” Best says. For example, drink small amounts every 15 to 20 minutes while you’re outside.

Remember: Stay hydrated and check in with your friends

Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate! Without enough water, your body can’t sweat, and you need that evaporation to keep your body in a safe temperature range.

“Water is excellent,” Chicas says. But if you’re sweating a lot, water alone might not be the best choice. “Our sweat is salty, so we have electrolytes that are coming out of our body,” she says. Choosing a drink with electrolytes can help replenish those salts.

“It’s also really important not to overdo it on electrolytes,” Chicas cautions. Many electrolyte sports drinks are also full of sugar. Look for drinks that are low in sugar instead.

As you enjoy fun in the sun, keep tabs on how you and your friends are feeling. Heat-related illness and heat stroke are common in middle and high school students, Chicas points out. “Become aware of that,” she says. “Know that these are all preventable illnesses and deaths.”