No one in their right mind would hope that their heater would break down in the dead middle of winter. Unfortunately, though, it happens to the best of people. Although a heating service can generally move quickly and get out to your home to diagnose and repair the issue, you will still need to figure out a way to stay warm until they do. While you can make sure all of your doors and windows are properly sealed ahead of time and you can bundle up in clothes and blankets, you may want to consider other options for staying warm. Here are a few ideas that you may not have thought of: 

1. Chug a Homemade Russian Drink

While hot herbal tea, hot chocolate and coffee are excellent drinks to help you stay warm, you may want to try something different and just a little bit unusual just for kicks. If this is the case, you may want to consider a Russian-based drink called Sbiten. You can make it with red wine or water along with cloves, honey, cinnamon, blackberry jam, ginger, nutmeg, and mint.

2. Get a Little Nutty

Believe it or not, one reason that people on diets tend to feel cold is because they are not consuming enough fat on a daily basis. In fact, fat helps to regulate your body's temperature and provide some insulation for your internal organs. Nuts contain healthy fats (unsaturated fats) along with lots of nutrients and protein, which makes them a perfect snack to eat while your heater is down without having to worry about major consequences afterward. For optimal results, you may want to consider increasing your intake of healthy fats before winter begins, or at least at the beginning of the cold season. This is because fats help regulate the body's temperature better over an extended period of time.

3. Add Some Spices to Your Dinner

Cooking can heat up the space and help you stay warm while you are preparing the meal. However, once that stove clicks off, the heat is lost. However, if you incorporate certain spices and herbs into your meal, then you may be able to heat up the flavor of the food as well as your body. For example, ginger can help improve blood circulation, which will then help increase your body temperature. Essentially, it will warm you from the inside. Other herbs that are good for improved blood circulation include willow bark, ginkgo biloba and bilberry.

While these things can help keep you warm, nothing is better than your heater. Contact an HVAC expert as soon as your heater goes out. To help prevent a broken heater in the first place, consider having your HVAC unit maintenance before winter strikes. This way, repairs can be made before you even need to use your heater so that you don't have to worry about being stuck with heat in a couple of months. Keep in mind that the same can be said regarding your air conditioner during the summer. Reach out to a company like Maryland Oil Company for more information.