3 counterintuitive strategies for staying cool in your sweltering office this summer

3 counterintuitive strategies for staying cool in your sweltering office this summer

3 counterintuitive strategies for staying cool in your sweltering office this summer

Eat spicy food

"It's commonly thought that the hot drinks raise your core temperature, but we found that that isn't the case," Jay also told Smithsonian. "What we think is that it's the thermosensors that line the throat and mouth that elicit the additional sweating response."

And, as it turns out, those thermosensors can be triggered by more than hot liquids.

As Peter McNaughton, a neuroscientist at the University of Cambridge, told NPR, the same receptors that respond to hot heat also respond to chemicals in chili peppers. So eating a spicy curry for lunch will cause you to sweat more, thereby cooling you down.

3 counterintuitive strategies for staying cool in your sweltering office this summer

Relocate

Even if you company has a no-work-from-home rule, during the hot summer months you may still want to ask if you can work remotely — from the lobby.

If you work on the 8th floor (remember that heat rises) in a room full of computers (each of which generates heat) and people (who also generate heat), it's fairly likely that the journey from your downstairs lobby area to your office is like changing temperate zones.

If your lobby has couches or chairs and wi-fi and you have a laptop you can work from, you might be better off working there during the hottest times of the day. Technically, you're still at work, even if your boss can't see you.