Have you dreamed of a great beer on the terrace to cool off in the middle of a heat wave?
Don't mind, order a large glass of water instead, or even a herbal tea.
Alcohol during hot weather is very strongly discouraged by doctors.
As we know, heat puts a strain on the body.
It may happen that the thermoregulatory mechanisms are overwhelmed and that heat-related symptoms appear such as fatigue, headaches, fever, or sleep disturbances.
Read alsoHeat wave: what to do (or not!) in the face of the heat
They are sometimes harbingers of serious accidents such as dehydration, which reflects an excessive decrease in the water contained in the tissues, or sunstroke, after too much exposure to the sun.
This dehydration is accentuated by a factor, alcohol, especially if it is consumed in the sun.
It is therefore to be avoided.
A diuretic role
Are all types of alcohol affected?
Yes, "even beer is nice but it's diuretic
(it makes you urinate)
", recalled emergency doctor Mathias Wargon on BFMTV on Wednesday.
“Alcohol dehydrates, and when we are drunk we do stupid things.
There are people who get warm, on lawns, these people they heat up, and arrive in hyperthermia.
If you have a heat stroke, put ice cubes on your body, you have to cool off, ”he advised.
Heatwave: Mathias Wargon calls for "not drinking alcohol" so as not to be dehydrated pic.twitter.com/sqqJH7NeRx
– BFMTV (@BFMTV) June 15, 2022
If it is better to avoid other diuretic drinks, such as tea or coffee, it is obviously necessary to drink water, without waiting to be thirsty, and to cool off, by wetting the body several times a day.