American scientists will today learn about the best foods to eat to keep cool.

Delegates attending the American Chemical Society's (ACS) National Meeting & Exposition in Philadelphia are invited to attend a special meeting entitled, Eating Cool: What to Eat to Beat the Heat on Tuesday 21 August.

Those attending will be invited to try different foods, such as ice-cream, and discuss whether it makes the body cool down or increases its metabolic furnace.

Alternatively, they can try ice-cold beer or red hot chili peppers to see if they are more effective at cooling the body during hot summer weather.

Red hot chili peppers; Credit: © Shutterstock

The briefing includes hints and tips from biochemist Shirley O. Corriher, the author of CookWise: The Hows and Whys of Successful Cooking and Sara Risch, the principal of consulting company Science by Design, who works with food, flavour and packaging companies on new product development.

The meeting is just one of 8,600 presentations discussing new discoveries in science at the ACS conference that is expected to be attended by 14,000 scientists and others associated with the sector.

One of the ACS' membership divisions covers agricultural and food chemistry and it publishes the world-leading Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.