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Voice of the Editor
Professor Craig Sale, Editor-in-Chief, The Journal of Nutritional Physiology
“By bringing together insights from nutritional and thermal physiology, we can design more effective strategies to protect human health in the decades ahead. Whether through targeted nutrition programmes, adaptive food policies, or public health campaigns that recognise the links between diet and heat, the goal must be resilience.”
Professor Craig Sale
Human health has always been shaped by the interplay between the environment and human physiology, and it is likely that climate change will exert a powerful influence upon both the nutritional landscape and the thermal environment. As climate change accelerates and global temperatures rise along with greenhouse gas emissions, this interplay will come under ever increasing strain. An important connection could well be the relationship between nutritional physiology (i.e., the way in which diet and metabolism sustain bodily functions) and thermal physiology (i.e., the mechanisms by which humans regulate internal body temperature in response to environmental conditions). Given this, the intersection of these two fields provides a lens via which we can aim to better understand the challenges that climate change poses to health and wellbeing.
Nutrition and the thermoregulatory balancing act
Humans are homeothermic organisms, meaning that we maintain a relatively constant internal temperature of around 37°C despite possible fluctuations in environmental conditions. This stability is sustained through a delicate balance between heat production and heat loss. On the one hand, metabolism, muscular activity, and diet-induced thermogenesis generate heat. On the other, the body dissipates excess heat through sweating, increased blood flow to the skin, and behavioural strategies such as seeking shade or reducing activity. When external temperatures rise beyond the body’s ability to regulate this balance, the consequences can be severe, ranging from heat exhaustion to heatstroke, cardiovascular strain, and, in extreme cases, death.
This thermoregulatory balancing act is not independent of nutrition. The foods we consume play a role in how our bodies manage heat. Every meal requires energy to digest, absorb, and metabolise nutrients (i.e., diet-induced thermogenesis) and hydration and electrolyte balance are equally central to this physiological puzzle. Sweating is the body’s most efficient cooling mechanism, but it comes at the cost of water and salt loss. Inadequate fluid intake or insufficient dietary sodium and potassium could impair thermoregulation, leaving individuals more vulnerable to the heat. Similarly, micronutrients may play subtle but important roles. Heat stress increases oxidative damage and inflammatory processes, which might, at least partially, be influenced by the consumption of certain foods. In this sense, nutrition might provide an important underpinning in our capacity to cope with thermal strain.
The threat of climate change on agricultural productivity
The challenge becomes more complicated when climate change starts to reshape the global food system. Rising temperatures, shifting rainfall patterns, and more frequent droughts and floods all threaten agricultural productivity. Staple crops such as wheat and rice are particularly vulnerable, and not only in terms of yield. Elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, while potentially stimulating crop yields and improved water use efficiency, might also decrease the nutrient quality of these crops. For example, elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide has been suggested to reduce concentrations of nitrogen, minerals, vitamins, and polyphenols. The future may experience a situation where food availability becomes more limited, which might further challenge our ability to meet the required intakes of many micronutrients.
Whilst somewhat speculative, exploring how nutritional strategies might be adapted to support thermal resilience in a warming world could become increasingly important. For example, hydration solutions enriched with electrolytes, have long been recommended for athletes under certain conditions, but might they soon become important public health tools for populations being increasingly exposed to higher temperatures. Diets rich in fruits and vegetables, with their higher water content and potential antioxidant properties, not only assist with hydration but might also be able to help mitigate the cellular stress caused by elevated temperatures. Traditional food practices may also hold valuable lessons. In many cultures, spicy foods have long been consumed in hot climates, stimulating sweating and thereby enhancing cooling. Fermented foods, meanwhile, might be able to support gut health and provide micronutrients that bolster resilience to environmental stressors.
How do specific dietary patterns influence heat tolerance?
Of course, more research is required to answer some of these critical questions. Looking ahead, the intersection of nutritional physiology and thermal physiology demands a more integrative approach. How do specific dietary patterns influence heat tolerance across different populations and age groups? What micronutrient deficiencies most strongly exacerbate vulnerability to heat-related illness? Can agricultural innovation provide crops that are not only climate-resilient in yield, but also rich in the nutrients needed? Answers to these questions will help chart a course toward climate adaptation strategies that recognise the physiological nature of the challenge.
Climate change is often described in terms of weather extremes, economic costs, or ecological damage, but one might argue that it is also a human physiological issue. Rising global temperatures directly affect the body’s ability to regulate heat, while simultaneously undermining the nutritional systems that support that regulation. What we eat, how we metabolise food, and how we maintain thermal stability are not separate domains but tightly interconnected processes. A warming planet threatens to unravel these connections in ways that demand urgent attention.
By bringing together insights from nutritional and thermal physiology, we can design more effective strategies to protect human health in the decades ahead. Whether through targeted nutrition programmes, adaptive food policies, or public health campaigns that recognise the links between diet and heat, the goal must be resilience. At the most basic level, survival in a hotter world will depend upon how well we align the way we nourish ourselves with the way our bodies regulate temperature. The future of health in the era of climate change will not be secured by technology or policy alone but by also understanding the physiological responses that might sustain us in a changing environment.
Find out more about The Journal of Nutritional Physiology and the journal’s latest call for papers.
