The Morning: Adapting to the heat

Plus, JD Vance, Simone Biles and slow fashion.

View in browser|nytimes.com July 28, 2024 SUPPORTED BY APPLE Good morning. We're covering how your body can adapt to the heat. We're also covering JD Vance, Simone Biles and slow fashion. In Seattle.  Justin J Wee for The New York Times Don't get scorched By Megan Thielking I edit stories about health and well-being. It has been hot outside. Very, very hot. It's the kind of hot that can make you miserable. It can make you sick. For older adults and outdoor workers, it can be deadly. As an editor on the Well desk at The Times, I work on stories about health issues like extreme heat every day. I'm always looking for practical advice that people can use to live healthier lives. For many health issues we report on, my thinking is: Well, that's terrible. What are we supposed to do about it? I thought I knew the answer when it came to heat. Stay cool, stay hydrated, stay alert to the signs of heat illness. Those are all important. But I was surprised to learn there's another approach that has largely been overlooked. It's called heat acclimatization, and The Times published a story about it this morning. It's about teaching your body to deal with the stress of heat. Right now, the people who try to do so are often outdoor laborers, athletes, soldiers and others who have to be outside all the time. But many other people might benefit from giving it a shot. How acclimatizing helps Heat taxes the body. You sweat more, and your heart beats harder. Both help keep you cool. But in very high temperatures, your heart rate can jump too high. Your blood pressure can drop. You can sweat so much you can become dizzy or dehydrated. Pushing the body too hard in extreme heat without preparation can be deadly. Almost half of all heat-related deaths among workers occur on their first day on the job, and more than 70 percent occur within the first week, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Once bodies are used to the heat, they start to adapt within days. To build up your tolerance, you can undertake increasingly longer periods of strenuous activity in hot conditions. You'll perspire sooner, and more. You retain more salts, so you don't sweat out as many electrolytes. Your body's core temperature stays lower. Your plasma, the liquid part of blood, expands. This allows the heart to beat less to circulate oxygen — and allows more blood to be sent toward the skin, where it can be cooled. Your body produces more proteins that help protect against heat stress and repair the damage from it. Those changes will let you do more without feeling fatigued in the heat. Doing it yourself In the first few days, you might do light or moderate activity for half an hour. When you feel ready, four or five days in, you can start doing more intense activity. The goal is to ramp up to about 90 minutes to two hours of activity over two weeks. That's about how long it takes your body to fully adapt. Health officials have more specific recommendations for people who work in hot conditions. You should be doing short bursts of whatever it is you want to do — weeding your garden, walking, running — for longer. You adapt only to what you train for: Light exercise in the heat builds your tolerance only for light exercise. Once you're acclimatized, keep doing what you're doing to stay that way. Otherwise, you'll lose those abilities within about a month. The best time to start acclimatizing is when temperatures are moderate. Don't wait for the heat wave. The right amount of strain will depend on your health and what you're trying to accomplish, experts said. Pay attention to how you're feeling. Stay hydrated. (Experts recommend drinking a cup of water every 15 to 20 minutes when working in the heat.) And stop if you experience any signs of heat-related illness. You don't want to overdo it. For more This is what extreme heat does to the body. It also affects the brain, making us aggressive, impulsive and dull. A MESSAGE FROM APPLE Mac does that Super security is standard on Mac, with hardware and software that protect your data out the box. Learn more THE LATEST NEWS Middle East The Israeli military said it had conducted overnight strikes in Lebanon, hours after a rocket fired from there killed at least 12 people in an Israeli-controlled town. Israel blamed Hezbollah, an Iran-backed group that has been attacking Israel in solidarity with Gaza, for the deadly rocket attack. 2024 Election Donald Trump and JD Vance. Doug Mills/The New York Times JD Vance has stumbled in his debut as Donald Trump's running mate. People have criticized his comment from 2021 that "a bunch childless cat ladies who are miserable" run the country. Vance formed a close bond with a transgender classmate — one who shared their private emails and messages with The Times to show how Vance had changed. At a rally, Trump escalated his attacks on Kamala Harris and called her "evil." Trump has also mocked Harris's laugh. It is one of her most effective weapons, our comedy critic writes. Harris is Asian American but is not widely known for that identity, even though she speaks often about her Indian mother. Wildfires Near Chico, Calif. Daniel Dreifuss for The New York Times The Park fire in Northern California has grown to become the largest active blaze in the country. Firefighters are racing to contain it and other fires across the American West. Some people are defying evacuation orders. Other Big Stories Russian forces have made rapid gains in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region, capturing a few villages. A plane crash in rural Wyoming killed three members of the gospel band the Nelons and four other people on board. OLYMPICS Simone Biles Chang W. Lee/The New York Times Simone Biles, the greatest gymnast in history, returned to the Olympics. Three years ago, she withdrew from most of her events at the Tokyo Games. Read about her comeback. Sunisa Lee, the all-around champion in Tokyo, may try a new skill. If she's able to do it, the move will be called "The Lee." See it slowed down. The U.S. men's basketball team will face Serbia today. (Here's what else to watch.) THE SUNDAY DEBATE Was JD Vance the right choice as Trump's running mate? No. Trump chose Vance because he was sure he'd beat President Biden, a hubristic error now that he faces Kamala Harris, Brian Tyler Cohen argues for MSNBC. Yes. Vance can meet expectations. "Veeps make a difference only if they are catastrophic mistakes, and Vance seems unlikely to be one," The Washington Post's Ramesh Ponnuru said. A MESSAGE FROM APPLE Mac does that Super security is standard on Mac, with hardware and software that protect your data out the box. Learn more FROM OPINION Alma Haser Our warming planet has thrown agriculture into crisis. We need to reimagine it, David Wallace-Wells explains. Vance is right: America is a homeland, Farah Stockman writes. To help people experiencing homelessness, addiction and mental health crises, send unarmed civilians instead of police officers, Tahir Duckett argues. Vance's comments make Trump look enlightened about women, Maureen Dowd writes. Here are columns by Ross Douthat and Lydia Polgreen on Harris. Subscribe Today The Morning highlights a small portion of the journalism that The New York Times offers. To access all of it, become a subscriber with this introductory offer. MORNING READS In Manhattan's Chinatown. Janice Chung for The New York Times Slow fashion: Some young people have become obsessed with learning old-fashioned crafts like leather-making and lacework. It's shark season: How worried should you be? Retirement: These are the three biggest mistakes you can make with your 401(k). Space: NASA did not say it found life on Mars. But it's very excited about this rock. Patriot Party News: A right-wing forum spreads disinformation — and a deep sense of community. Vows: She swore off dating. Then she took a walk with him. Lives Lived: Gail Lumet Buckley wrote two multigenerational books about her ambitious Black middle-class family. She died at 86. THE INTERVIEW Pete Buttigieg Photo illustration by Devin Oktar Yalkin for The New York Times By Lulu Garcia-Navarro This week's subject for The Interview is the secretary of transportation, Pete Buttigieg. This time last week, Buttigieg was a prominent surrogate for President Biden's re-election campaign. Now he is making the case for Kamala Harris, while demurring when asked about his interest in becoming her vice president. We talked about all of that, plus whether Harris should debate on Fox News, whether Biden stayed in the race too long, and the Democrats' new messaging on Donald Trump. I want to ask you about a specific shift in messaging I've noticed this week from the Democrats. The Harris campaign is leaning into the idea that Trump is, quote, weird. It's very different from the way Democrats framed him before, which is that he's an existential threat to democracy, this terrifying figure that is going to take away people's rights. "Weird" seems, you know, a different tack from that. What do you think of that strategy, of basically laughing at him? Well, to be clear, I think we're doing both. We're talking about the implications for democracy and noting that he is obviously a strange person who's getting stranger, and you've got to ask yourself, is that the kind of person you want in charge of the country? Part of the promise of a Kamala Harris presidency is actually the prospect of a comparatively normal Republican Party. What I mean by that is: Beating Donald Trump the first time in 2020 ended his term, but it did not end his grip on the G.O.P. Beating him twice would, I think, have a different effect on a lot of people in the G.O.P. who know better than to be onboard with him. He goes against their values too, not just my values, but they've gone along with it because they think it's the path to power. And it would become abundantly clear that that is not true if we beat him, not just the way we beat him in 2020, not just the way we indirectly beat him in 2022 in the midterms, but beat him a second or, so to speak, third time. What I'm hearing you say, and please correct me if I'm wrong, is if Donald Trump is defeated in this election, then perhaps the Republican Party can be freed from his grip? I think so. I made myself watch the first couple Republican presidential debates, and we had a lot of Republican candidates this cycle. There were still some things that I thought were pretty fringe, and just about everything I heard I disagreed with, but apart from some of the darkness of Vivek's populism, you could be forgiven for thinking you were looking at a more normal Republican Party … If he leads this party to defeat a third time, I believe that the self-interest, just the internal power dynamics of the G.O.P., the very power dynamics that have kept them enthralled to him, even though so many of them know better (notably including, by the way, JD Vance, who, back when he was speaking truthfully and for himself, referred to Donald Trump as an idiot and compared him to an opioid, which is an exceptionally dark thing to say about somebody if you are from or connected to Appalachia as JD Vance is, right? And that was in public. In private, comparing him to Hitler, and now turning around and supporting him) — all of that finally breaks loose if they realize that attaching yourself to Donald Trump doesn't just destroy your character; it destroys your access to power. Read more of the interview here. THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE Photograph by Philip Montgomery for The New York Times Click the cover image above to read this week's magazine. BOOKS "Long Island Compromise": Based on a true story, this novel follows a dysfunctional suburban family decades after the father, a prominent businessman, is kidnapped from his driveway. See other books we recommend. Pick your next book: Use our tool to find a great book, like "Martyr!" by Kaveh Akbar, to read next. "The Secret Lives of Numbers": This book highlights the overlooked contributions to math by ancient thinkers, non-Westerners and women. Times best sellers: "The Black Bird Oracle," the fifth book in Deborah Harkness's All Souls series, is on the hardcover fiction list. THE MORNING RECOMMENDS … Bring the best gear — bags, towels — to the beach. Buy a good camping tent. Adventure with an excellent dry bag. THE WEEK AHEAD What to Watch For The U.S. presidential election is in 100 days. Venezuela's presidential election is today. The Federal Reserve is expected to discuss lowering interest rates starting on Tuesday. The Lollapalooza music festival begins on Thursday. Meal Plan Christopher Testani for The New York Times This week, Emily Weinstein recommends revisiting angel hair noodles — she thinks it's the perfect pan of pasta for a high-summer dinner tossed with olive oil, butter, garlic, herbs and blistered cherry tomatoes. She's also encouraging you to try a chicken and herb salad with nuoc cham, made with fish sauce and lime, and a pearl couscous salad with shrimp and feta. 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