CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The frigid weather has created a surge in business at the city's Mexican food restaurants as customers flock to warm up with traditional comfort foods.
Randy Farias was among many residents who made a beeline to their favorite taqueria or restaurant to warm up from the inside out as temperatures began to drop.
"Today I had to get my favorite soup, caldo, caldo de rez," Farias said.
As the temperature began to drop, sales of cold weather comfort food like caldo and menudo went up. Farias and other neighbors shared some of their go-to cold weather comfort foods.
"There's a mariscos soup, which is, uh, caldo de camaron, caldo de rez, caldo de pollo," Farias said.
Other residents mentioned different comfort foods for staying warm.
"Chips, popcorn, popcorn and cheese," one person said.
"Hot chocolate, smores, stuff like that," another added.
So why do some foods help warm us up during cold weather? The secret ingredient is something called thermogenesis. That's when your body burns calories to digest your food. The process generates heat and that's why you feel warm after eating.
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