Stay hydrated

补水

 

When you're hot and flushed, hydrating yourself is the first and foremost step to cooling down, said Wendell Porter, a senior lecturer emeritus in agricultural and biological engineering at the University of Florida.

佛罗里达大学农业和生物工程系名誉高级讲师温德尔·波特提到，当你热得满脸发红时，为自己补充水分是首要的事情。

 

The temperature of the water doesn't matter since your body will heat it, he added. If your body is suffering from the heat and needs to cool itself, it can't do that without enough moisture, since the body cools itself by sweating.

他补充说，你喝的是热水还是凉水都无所谓，因为你的身体会加热它。由于人体需要通过出汗来降温，如果没有摄入足够的水分，你的身体就无法在高温状态下自行冷却。

 

Take a cold shower or bath

洗冷水浴

 

Taking a cold shower or bath helps cool your body by lowering your core temperature, Porter said.

波特说，冲凉或洗个冷水澡可以降低核心体温，从而让你凉快起来。

 

For an extra cool blast, try peppermint soap. The menthol in peppermint oil activates brain receptors that tell your body something you're eating or feeling is cold.

如果想要更凉快的话，可以尝试一下薄荷肥皂。薄荷油中的薄荷醇会激活大脑受体，让你的身体对正在吃或者用的东西产生凉爽的感觉。

 

Use cold washrags on your neck or wrists

在脖子或手腕上敷冷毛巾

 

Place a cold washrag or ice bags (packs) on your wrists or drape it around your neck to cool your body. These pulse points are areas where blood vessels are close to the skin, so you'll cool down more quickly.

你可以在手腕上放一块冷毛巾或者几个冰袋，也可以把冷毛巾挂在脖子上来降低体温。这些脉搏点的血管离皮肤近，在这些区域冷敷能够更快地给身体降温。

 

Use box fans

使用箱式风扇

 

Place box fans facing out of the windows of rooms you're spending time in to blow out hot air and replace it with cold air inside.

让箱式风扇朝着你所在房间的窗外吹，把热空气吹出去，用冷空气取而代之。

 

If the weather in your area tends to fall between 50 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit in the mornings and evenings, opening the windows on both sides of the house during those times can facilitate a cross-flow ventilation system. If you do this, you can opt to use or not use the fans, but the fans would help cool the house faster, Porter said. The outdoors can pull the hot air from your home, leaving a cooler temperature or bringing in the breeze. Just be sure to close windows as the sun comes out, then open them when the weather is cool again.

如果你所在的地区早晚气温介于50-70华氏度（10-21摄氏度）之间，在这段时间内打开房子两侧的窗户便可以在室内形成对流。波特说这种情况用不用风扇都可以，但风扇能让室内温度降得更快。对外通风能够带走室内的热空气，降低室温，让微风吹进来。不过一定要在太阳出来时关上窗户，等到天气凉爽时再重新开窗。

 

Just resting near a fan would reduce your body temperature as well.

在风扇旁边休息也可以降低你的体温。

 

Close your curtains or blinds

拉上窗帘或百叶窗

 

If you have windows that face the sun's direction in the morning through afternoon, close the curtains or blinds over them to "keep the sun from coming directly into the house and heating up (the) inside," Porter said.

如果你家里有从早到晚被太阳直射的窗户，记得拉上窗帘或百叶窗，波特说这样可以“避免阳光直射让室内升温。”

 

You could also install blackout curtains to insulate the room and reduce temperature increases that would happen during the day.

你也可以安装遮光窗帘来阻隔阳光，减少日间可能发生的升温。

 

If you do turn the air conditioning on, don't set it below 70 degrees Fahrenheit in an effort to cool the house faster, said Samantha Hall, managing director of Spaces Alive, an Australia-based design research company helping to create healthy, sustainable buildings.

澳大利亚设计研究公司Spaces Alive的总经理萨曼莎·霍尔说，如果你开了空调，不要为了快速降低室温而把空调调到21摄氏度以下。

 

"It just runs for longer to reach that temp and will keep going until you start to feel a bit chilly and is then hard to balance," she added. Instead, keep the unit temperature as high as possible while still comfortable.

她补充道：“为了达到设定温度，空调会持续制冷，直到你感觉凉飕飕的，你会感觉难以适应。”你应该在体感舒适的前提下尽量把空调温度设置得高一些。

 

Sleep in breathable linens

使用透气的床上用品

 

Cotton is one of the most breathable materials, so cotton sheets or blankets could help keep you cool through the night.

棉布是最透气的面料之一，使用棉布床单或棉毯可以帮助你一整夜保持凉爽。

 

The lower the thread count of the cotton, the more breathable it is, Porter said. That's because higher thread counts have more weaving per square inch.

波特说，棉支数越低，就越透气。这是因为支数越高，织物密度越高。

 

Use the exhaust fan in your kitchen and/or bathroom

使用厨房或浴室中的排气扇

 

Flip the switch for the exhaust fan in your kitchen to pull hot air that rises after you cook or in your bathroom to draw out steam after you shower.

打开厨房或浴室的排气扇，抽走做饭或洗澡时产生的热空气和水蒸气。

 

Enjoy frozen treats

享用冷冻食品

 

Eating an ice pop or ice cream to cool down may help for a moment. But don't go overboard on the sugar if you're overheated or at risk of being overheated, Porter said.

吃一根冰棍或者冰激凌可以暂时帮你降温。但波特指出，如果你感到非常热，简直快要热晕，就不要摄入太多糖。

 

"Sugar would run your metabolism up and you'd start feeling internally hot," he said. "So the cool treat might be good, but the extra sugar might not."

波特说：“糖分会加速新陈代谢，让你产生内热。因此吃冷冻食品也许很爽，但是过多的糖分对你却没有好处。”