'I'm a doctor and this is why you don't want to eat when it's hot'

'I'm a doctor and this is why you don't want to eat when it's hot' Although it feels like last week's heatwave has only just ended, relief could be short-lived, with the Met Office warning temperatures could be back in the 30s in a matter of day We're only just cooling down from one heatwave, and another is already on its way. Last week's record-breaking hot spell saw temperatures peak at a sweltering 37.7 degrees in some areas, but it has since cooled down to slightly more reasonable levels. But relief could be short-lived, with the Met Office warning temperatures could be back in the 30s within a matter of days. As we've all become keenly aware of in the past few weeks, hot weather can have all kinds of impacts on our bodies, including dehydration, and difficulty with concentration. And now one doctor has explained why we might also lose our appetites when temperatures soar. Dr Nighat Arif, who has more than 324,000 followers on TikTok, explained the issue in a video on the social media platform. "You're not off your food in the heat," she said. "Your brain is literally switching hunger off." She said a lack of hunger in a heatwave is the result of "your brain going into survival mode". "Your hypothalamus, that's your body's thermostat, is working overtime to keep you at around 37 Celsius," she said. "That's a quite nice temperature. We like that temperature. We just don't like anything above that temperature. "So it starts redirecting blood away from your gut to your skin to cool you down. Simply put, your digestion gets de-prioritised and your body is going 'I've got better things to do'." She continued hot weather can also cause a drop in the hormone ghrelin, which makes you feel hungry, while levels of GLP-1 and Peptide YY, or PYY, which make you feel full, will rise. "At the same time, your brain is confusing hunger with thirst," she said. "So suddenly water feels more urgent than food. And in some people, that doesn't even register as something that they need to do. For example, thirst might not be something that your brain registers straight away. And hence why in this heat you should regularly hydrate yourself, even if you're not feeling thirsty." She continued: "Whilst all this is happening, you could also be left feeling bloated, not hungry, and, honestly, you might be just feeling a bit off. This is why you can feel extra lethargic, and the fatigue sets in and you feel really tired as well. "It's part of your body's way of protecting you, and it's not failing you at all. This is what happens when the heat rises around us and hence why we've got to be really keeping a check on this climate change that's happening because it's really seriously having an impact on our bodies." Closing, she said the best solution is to eat smaller meals containing a lot of water-rich elements, such as yoghurt, fruit, and salad, while also making sure you have a regular intake of fibre to keep your gut operating. "If your appetite has disappeared in this heat, I want you to notice this today - are you actually not hungry, or are you just feeling overheated? If that's the case, time to cool down." Although temperatures are set to rise again as soon as this weekend, the Met Office has said it is unlikely to be as hot as it was last week, with lower levels of humidity too. Tony Wisson, deputy chief forecaster at the Met Office, said: "The forecast for this weekend suggests that temperatures could approach high-20s across parts of England, perhaps 30 degrees in parts of the southeast, with values of mid-to-high-20s in Wales. "Although a return to heatwave conditions is looking increasingly likely for some areas, the likelihood of such extreme high temperatures or high levels of humidity as last week is currently low." Current Met Office temperature maps show 27 degrees forecast across southern England on Sunday afternoon, with temperatures rising to 29 degrees on Monday and Tuesday.