When summer comes, the appetite disappears, and most people don’t feel like eating when the heat is on. Therefore when you do eat, it makes sense to go for foods that will help you to keep cool. Here’s what should be on your plate in the summer time.
Water
Okay, water’s not a food, but foods with a high water content can help your body to maintain the right temperature and also keep you adequately hydrated. That is absolutely essential in very hot weather. Salad vegetables like lettuce, celery, radishes and cucumber, along with fruits such as melon, apples, grapes, pears and citrus fruits will all help you to stay cool.
It’s a good idea to have a melon sliced up in the fridge for a refreshing anytime treat. Summer time is also strawberry time, and all berries have anti-inflammatory characteristics which can really help to take the sting out of sunburn, as well as having a high water content.
Spice up your life
Maybe you don’t fancy a full on curry or chilli in the hot weather, but incorporating a little spice into your food can really help you to keep cool. Spices cause you to perspire, and that encourages the body’s natural cooling mechanism to kick in.
Sprinkle a little ground ginger on slices of melon, season fish with black pepper, and try adding chilli flakes to meat and poultry marinades. Coronation chicken is a great spicy option for summer too, and garlic also has a cooling effect.
Eat raw food
You don’t really want to be slaving over a hot stove when it’s baking hot outside, do you? Opt for salads and barbecues instead, and give the cooker – and the cook – a well-deserved break.
Do your digestion a favour
In summer, cut down your consumption of meat, which is harder to digest than other foods and also causes your body temperature to rise. As a change from burgers on the barbecue, try fish or roasted vegetables. Ice cream is also rather hard to digest, so actually that cooling cone could be heating you up!
Yogurt
Yogurt is an excellent cooling food. Team it up with fresh fruit, or make a yogurt and mint dressing for your salad. Speaking of mint, that’s very cooling as well.
Soup of the day
Maybe you think soup and summer are diametrically opposed, but you’d be wrong. Soup helps to keep you hydrated, which assists in the body’s natural cooling process. Opt for light soups like consommé or broth, or choose a delicious cold gazpacho. Why not make your own tomato soup? Tomatoes are at their tastiest and most prevalent during summer.
Make the most of these cooling foods during the summer, and you’ll be much more comfortable in the heat. As an added bonus, many of the foods that help you to keep cool are also low in calories and fat, so you may even lose a few pounds into the bargain.
