The newest ways to stay cool are all about sweat use and air flow. —————————————————————— Originally Published May 12, 2004 -- Your Wellness Guide Olympic Ways To Stay Cool This Summer —————————————————————— Also seen on "Good Morning Arizona" KTVK-TV on May 12, 2004. As the summer temperatures rise, cooling down becomes even more important.  Hydration becomes a necessity, and cooling off isn’t a luxury. At this year’s Summer Olympics in Athens, cooling off will also be critical for the athletes.  An hour of intense exercise in over 100-degree August weather in Athens could produce as much as one liter of sweated moisture from these Olympians.  Not only will the athletes need to carefully replace these fluids with sports drinks and water but they will also need to utilize the water loss -- their sweat -- to cool them off.  A cooled-off athlete not only feels better but competes better. As a result, a team of designers from adidas, the official U.S. Olympic sponsor for athletic wear, was tasked with coming up with new technology shoes and apparel that would keep the athletes cool in such high temperatures.  Originally, the team thought it could turn to already-done research that would show where the body produces heat and sweat.  Instead, no such research existed. So, adidas went to work, mapping the body to determine its heat zones.  Then, the team’s challenge was to create shoes and apparel that would extract the heat from the athlete’s body and feet.  The resulting designs focused on two key elements: moisture use and ventilation.  And the trickle-down information and resulting products contain important consumer news. First, sweat is your friend. “The mechanism of cooling you down is the sweat,” says Christian DiBenedetto, a scientist at adidas’ North American headquarters.  Sweat is most effective “when you have a very thin layer of sweat...when people are glistening.”  As long as there is ventilation and air flow to keep the sweat evaporating off your body, then you are kept cool.   Photo Courtesy: adidas The body produces heat in key areas.  This new information now tells manufacturers where to place key heat-extracting elements and fabrics. However, if the sweat starts to drip, then that is when perspiration is least effective.  A good example is when you wear a cotton t-shirt and end up having soaked areas under the arms, along your back, and down the front.  The sweat is building up droplets while the cotton shirt absorbs.  There is little evaporation going on and the heat has a hard time escaping. Or, take the example of a spray bottle, like the one you use to iron your clothes.  Set on “stream,” the bottle lands a dripping line of water down your hand (simulating dripping sweat).  If that hand is placed in front of a fan (ventilation), you get a limited cooling effect.  However, set the bottle to “spray,” and your whole hand is covered with a thin layer of water.  Put that hand in front of the fan, and you get a remarkably better cooling effect. For the Olympians, a line of ClimaCool and AdiStar products were created to cool down the athletes.  Shoes were constructed that added ventilation ducts along the bottom, sides, and front of the shoe, along with mesh fabric uppers.  The result was a shoe that allowed air to enter, whisk away the heat, and evaporate the sweat out the top, bottom, and back.  Combined with sports socks (not sweat-absorbing cotton socks), the foot cools down. Additionally, contrary to popular belief, going shirtless in the summer is not the best option because the sweat will largely turn into droplets and run off the skin versus evaporating.  Olympics-produced technology shows that the best clothing option in the heat includes wearing apparel that has air flow, will whisk away sweat droplets, and aid in moisture evaporation. If you are out looking for summer apparel and shoes this season, especially if you will be exercising, consider the following:  Look for clothing that is made with polyester blends and engineered fabrics.  Traditional cotton blends, especially those without some type of special construction, will not be the best for keeping you cool.   Consider mesh fabrics for added ventilation.   Seek apparel goods that advertise their ability to wick moisture away from the skin.   Drink enough water no matter what type of clothing or shoes you wear.   Check out the ClimaCool consumer products online at www.thestoreadidas.com. Terra Wellington is a national authority on creating a wellness lifestyle.  www.terrawellington.com  © Copyright Terra Wellington