Haven’t turned on that oven much lately, eh? No surprise. Mint, and members of its botanical family, trick the body into feeling cool. (iStockphoto by Getty Images) But despite the heat one scorching, sunny afternoon during a trip to Morocco some months ago, I was offered hot mint tea so that I could “cool off a bit.” What gave? It turns out that certain foods and beverages, even though consumed at high temperatures, have a cooling effect on our bodies — or seem to do so. While hot tea, for example, does raise the body’s core temperature (and iced tea lowers it), we humans regulate that core temperature in order to keep it a steady 98.6 degrees.