The weather in spring is always warm and cold, rainy and sunny at first, so it is unpredictable. At this time, you should pay attention to keep warm, you can also drink more hot drinks to get rid of the cold, reduce the chance of cold hands and feet, cold body. Remind everyone, drink the right ingredients is very critical!
Use protein, curcumin and flavonoids to enhance “dietary thermogenesis”
If you want to heat up your body by food intake, you can make good use of “diet induced thermogenesis”, which means that the body consumes internal heat when digesting and absorbing food to raise the body temperature.
Protein has the highest thermogenesis effect, accounting for about 20-30% of caloric intake, while carbohydrates are 5-10% and fat is less than 3%. Therefore, to warm up the body, you may want to drink hot soy milk, hot milk, but also to get high-quality protein, calcium or soy isoflavones, especially for the silver-haired people who are afraid of cold and need protein.
In 2012, the journal Metabolism published a study in the United States found that drinking hot ginger tea helps to enhance the heat production effect of food intake, but also to increase the feeling of fullness. However, a special reminder that commercially available ginger mother sugar cubes or ready-to-drink packets should be aware of the problem of high sugar, it is best to buy old ginger home cooking, and reduce the amount of sugar added.
In addition, a Chinese study published in the journal International Journal of Obesity in 2016 found that the presence of lignans in the diet enhanced the performance of thermogenic genes in brown fat and subcutaneous fat, which in turn enhanced thermogenesis.
Lignans are flavonoids, mostly found in chrysanthemum, peppermint, thyme, rosemary, etc., and can be prepared into herbal teas for drinking. Herbal tea does not contain caffeine, suitable for all ages to drink, but pay attention to the problem of pesticide residues. And celery, onions, cauliflower, etc., also rich in lignan.
Drinking coffee and alcohol to warm up can lead to cold hands and feet and loss of heat
Many people love to drink hot coffee, hot tea or hot cocoa to warm up, but be careful with caffeine. 2014 Journal of biological rhythms published a U.S. study found that caffeine stimulates the sympathetic nervous system, causing blood vessels to constrict and blood flow to decrease, so the temperature of the extremities farthest from the heart will decrease, making it easy to feel cold hands and feet. It is recommended that when drinking caffeinated beverages, you can pair them with warm ingredients such as ginger powder and cinnamon powder to improve blood circulation.
In addition, many people think that drinking alcohol warms them up, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that alcoholic beverages should be avoided when it’s cold, for fear of losing body heat more quickly; the American Heart Association (AHA) also cautions that the warmth caused by alcohol may cause people to underestimate the extra stress that cold causes on the body.
Alcohol inhibits the secretion of the neurotransmitter vasopressin, causing blood vessels to dilate and flow to the extremities, increasing blood flow to the surface of the hands and feet and skin, giving people the false impression that the body is heating up, when in fact, it is radiating heat through the skin, and the colder the body gets.
In addition, alcohol will also inhibit the role of new sugar, not only the risk of hypoglycemia, but also disrupt the body’s thermoregulatory mechanism, causing the body’s central temperature to drop, so excessive drinking on cold days may also lead to loss of temperature.
Warm up with drinks is only a short-term effect, should be through activities, exercise to improve metabolism, improve blood circulation, is the fundamental way to make the body warm. If office workers are often sedentary, hands and feet are prone to cold, remember to stretch between work and maintain regular exercise habits, such as brisk walking, running, etc., are good methods.
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