Therman Nutrition as the Missing Link in Heat-Stress Care
Thermal nutrition as the missing link in heat-stress care: why chilled spoonable bread is a relevant and scientifically grounded intervention
Extreme heat affects the dietary intake of vulnerable groups far more strongly than long assumed. New epidemiological insights show that heatwaves not only lead to dehydration and cardiovascular stress, but also to a measurable decline in appetite, energy intake, and nutritional stability among older adults. The systematic review by Nucci et al. (2025), which broadly covers extreme weather events—including droughts, floods, hurricanes, and heatwaves—brings together, for the first time, multiple lines of evidence supporting this relationship. Studies on rising temperatures show that thermal anomalies increase the incidence of underweight in people aged 60 and over (Mueller 2018), and that each rise in daily temperature is associated with a higher risk of hospitalization for protein-energy malnutrition (Xu 2019). Although these findings originate from different contexts and the review itself notes heterogeneity in study designs and outcome measures, they point in the same direction: heat poses a real nutritional risk for older populations.
These insights closely align with what has long been observed in practice. As ambient temperature rises, the body shifts its priority toward thermoregulation. Hunger signals diminish, orosensory motivation weakens, and hot meals are more quickly perceived as burdensome. Older adults, cancer patients, and other care populations are particularly vulnerable: they more often experience taste loss, nausea, slower heat dissipation, and reduced thirst and hunger perception, further raising the threshold to eat. Research and clinical experience show that people tend to eat significantly less at high temperatures, regardless of age or health status. In care settings, this can quickly lead to insufficient energy intake, weight loss, and ultimately malnutrition.
Remarkably, Western literature and conventional heat policies pay little explicit attention to the temperature of food itself as an intervention. While hydration, electrolytes, and external cooling are central, the role of food temperature in palatability, comfort, and physiological burden is rarely systematically explored. In Eastern dietary traditions, food temperature has for centuries been considered a determinant of bodily comfort and thermal balance, although warm foods are often recommended there. The broader principle—that food temperature influences physiological load and willingness to eat—remains highly relevant and aligns with insights from the Food-Related Life Sciences.
CRIGA develops nutritional concepts as high-quality medical nutrition, focused on taste, intake, comfort, and nutritional quality for vulnerable patients. Chilled spoonable bread represents a particularly effective intervention during warm periods. Because this preparation remains optimally palatable and energy-dense even in an ice-cold, spoonable form, it proves exceptionally suitable during heat stress. Subjective heat load decreases, willingness to eat increases, nausea diminishes, and overall palatability improves. At the same time, its spoonable nature allows energy density to be increased without placing additional strain on the body—a crucial feature during heatwaves, when many people revert to empty calories such as ice cream, sugary drinks, or light snacks.
The energy- and protein-enriched HYPER system further enhances this effect. Its modular design allows flexible portion sizing and increased feeding frequency without inducing satiety pressure. Digestibility can be tailored through the choice of hydration liquid, optimizing both gastric comfort and absorption efficiency. The broad flavor range counteracts rapid taste adaptation typical during heat exposure, helping sustain motivation to eat over time. The result is a nutritional solution that is not only cool and comfortable, but also functional, targeted, and aligned with the physiological needs of vulnerable groups during warm periods.
Thermal nutrition thus opens a new perspective within the Food-Related Life Sciences: it becomes a crucial yet previously underexposed parameter in heat-stress care. The epidemiological insights from Nucci et al. make clear that heat constitutes a nutritional risk; the ability to serve Spoon It and HYPER in a chilled format offers healthcare organizations a concrete and efficient response to that risk. What long seemed intuitive now gains scientific grounding: food temperature influences oro-physical (edible) properties, orosensory perception, and oral comfort—and thereby overall palatability and metabolic stability during heatwaves.
With the market-ready solutions of Gastromeals, healthcare organizations today have access to an easily deployable, physiologically consistent, and evidence-aligned intervention to support nutritional intake during extreme heat. In countries with a humid maritime climate, such as Belgium and the Netherlands, higher humidity further impairs heat dissipation through sweating, causing heat load in vulnerable groups to rise more rapidly. In a time when heatwaves are becoming more frequent and intense, integrating thermal nutrition into heat policies is no longer a luxury, but a necessary step toward future-proof nutritional care.
References:
Nucci D., Pennisi F., Pinto A., De Ponti E., Ricciardi G.E., Signorelli C., Veronese N., Castagna A., Maggi S., Cadeddu C., Gianfredi V. Impact of extreme weather events on food security among older people: a systematic review. Aging Clinical and Experimental Research. 2025;37:137.
Mueller V. (2018). Temperature anomalies and underweight prevalence among older adults in China.
Xu R.B. (2019). Heat exposure and hospitalizations for proteinenergy malnutrition in Brazil.