The hiss-crack-pop of an ice-cold seltzer accompanied by the glass clinks of chilled beers may sound like the perfect solution to a sweltering evening with friends, but the punishing effects from summer’s heat could be amplified by your favorite alcoholic beverage, experts say.
Alcohol opens the blood vessels in your skin, allowing the blood to be more susceptible to external temperatures. As the blood rushes to the surface, it is pulled away from your core, where it is warmed by the outside temperatures. The warmed blood is then brought back to your core where it increases your overall body temperature, said Chris Ziebell, medical director of Houston Methodist’s emergency department. In extreme heat, this can increase the risk of heat illness — heat cramps, heat exhaustion, and in severe cases, heat stroke.
“It opens up the arteries in the skin, which allows more direct contact of the blood with whatever the outside temperature is ... both in terms of heat and in terms of cold,” Ziebell said.
Alcohol is also a diuretic, which leads to increased urination and potentially dehydration.
Ziebell explained that alcohol exacerbates fluid loss, which makes it harder to sweat. The inability to sweat can be the difference between milder heat exhaustion and a more fatal heat stroke.
“You sweat until you run out of sweat. Then you’ve lost your last bit of capacity to cool down,” Ziebell said. “And that’s what makes the temperatures go way, way up.”
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