As the heat wave grips the city, doctors have come up with ways to beat it. While avoiding the sun is a common suggestion, some doctors feel that eating right, drinking fluids with electrolyte, wearing loose clothes and moderating body temperature can solve the problem.

According to Dr Rakesh Gupta from Apollo Hospitals, one should avoid eating oily foods because they slow down the metabolism. “One should eat dry and cool foods and try to keep their diet to fruits like watermelon and melon as they have more water content. This avoids dehydration. One should also drink a lot of lemon water or Electrosol because it helps in rejuvenating the lost salts in the body,” he said.

The common symptoms of getting a heat stroke are disorientation, sluggish feeling, giddiness, vomiting and lack of appetite. Dr DG Jain, senior physician at Fortis Jessa Ram Hospital said that this is common in children mostly. “Children play outdoors and are exposed to heat for long hours. This can drain them completely. Thus, they need to keep in mind that they play indoor games,” he added.

Doctors also suggest that people who gym everyday should make sure they do so in suitable conditions. “Only if the gym is air conditioned should people gym because otherwise the body heats up too much and the body loses important nutrients,” said Dr RK Singhal, senior consultant of internal medicine at BlK Super Speciality Hospital adding that circulating air in the room is also important. “People usually keep their fans off and ACs on, but when they turn off their ACs all the stagnated hot air fills the room. This causes an imbalance in the temperature of the body and causes uneasiness,” he informed.

Another area where most people go wrong during summers is the choice of clothes they wear. Dr Gupta says that the looser the clothes the better. “People should wear breathable clothes, which are comfortable and don’t trigger rashes,” he states and Dr Singhal added, “The clothes should not be polyester and mostly cotton.”