Air conditioning bill too high? Try eating spicy food to cool down, recommends doctor

WASHINGTON (WJLA) — As the mercury rises, so do air conditioning costs on electric bills.

WJLA's Victoria Sanchez looked into cheap and simple tricks that can cool you down in the summer.

Soak a washcloth in cold water and place it on your wrist and around your neck: The blood vessels are close to the skin at those points and you’ll cool down quickly.

For dinner, try grilling outdoors or use a slow cooker: That will avoid heat from the stovetop or oven that will make the house warmer.

Spice it up! Ginger, cayenne and red chilies can help cool you down, says Dr. Amar Athwal with Kaiser Permanente. “Of course, when you eat something spicy, you might feel hot at first but those spices cause people to perspire and then the perspiration evaporates and cools your body down,” he told Sanchez. “Hot tea and other hot products like soups and stews can actually cool the body down in a similar way.

In a letter published in the journal Temperature, a professor at the Chile Pepper Institute at New Mexico State University explained eating peppers doesn’t raise body temperature but the capsaicin tricks the brain into producing sweat.

Reaching for hot coffee or soup probably isn’t a first choice when the temperature is soaring.

Opting for iced drinks and popsicles is good too. They can make you feel cool because when your mouth is cold, you feel less thirsty.