Canadians Cool Off With Beer and Ice Cream
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If you're in the Northern Hemisphere, it's summer right now and you're trying to stay cool. In Canada, that means plenty of ice cream and chilled beer.

It might taste good, but it's not great for your diet...

As the Vancouver Sun explained:

When it comes to cooling off, lots of chocolate ice cream and a steady flow of cold beer are the heat-beating weapons the nation turns to, the Ipsos Reid poll for canada.com revealed.

The figures showed that:

* 33% of Canadians chose beer as their favorite summer drink

* 16% opted for white wine

* 20% go for ice cream to cool down, with chocolate as the top flavor.

Of course, when temperatures soar, it's important to stay cool - heatstroke can be very serious. However, alcohol can dehydrate you, and ice cream is packed with sugar and fat.

So if you're looking for ways to stay cool, how about:

* Opting for big cool salads as a light lunch

* Drinking iced water: if you're having beer or wine, then grab a glass of water for every other drink, to stay hydrated

* Cooling off with a swim (also popular with Canadians) - burning some calories at the same time

* Staying out of the sun and avoiding strenuous exercise in the heat.

We all tend to kick back and relax in the summer - but don't use this as an excuse to completely derail your diet.