Stay Fresh And Hydrated With These Summer Foods

It’s just April and the sun is brutal already. Soaring temperatures come attached with health issues that take center-stage. So to avoid them you can take two steps: Either you decide not to step out at all or eat right to keep your inner self  cool and beat the heat. We spoke to Dr Mona Bhalla, a Kanpur based Dietician, as to what our summer foods our diet should include. Here’s what she suggests:

• Eat Light But Healthy

During summers, the most important thing to consider is to eat light. Summer foods should include fruits and everything healthy. And this strictly excludes fried foods. “With fried foods, there is even more heat generated in the body which will make you feel irritable. Spices boost up the rate of metabolism hence it is advisable to avoid extremely spicy food during the season.” says Dr Bhalla.

• Liquids Help You Stay Cool, Except the Heat Generating Ones!

How does it feel to drink a glass full of lassi on a hot summer day? Amazing,undoubtedly. That’s what we mean when we say ‘liquids that help you stay cool’. Our body is made up of 70% water. What happens during summers is that the natural processes like sweating helps to cool down the rising temperature of body. For this reason, we are advised to drink more water. This also leads us to a concern - that we need to avoid liquids that generate heat. Yes you read right! Some liquids do generate heat. According to Dr Bhalla, “Beverages like Tea and Coffee that are mainly meant to be taken during winters should obviously be avoided during summers. Shikanji and Pana with adequate amount of Black Salt also are an amazing choice. Fruit juice is also a fantastic choice to quench your thirst as it gives you an internal cooling effect and also adds to your good health.”

• Pay Attention To Your Digestive System. Eat Food That Boosts Up Digestion!

Our stomachs do react differently to change of seasons. In summers, as the heat rises, our digestive system too reacts to it differently and hence it is important to eat food that suits our digestive system. “Eating less food, more of it at shorter intervals is good when you specifically take into consideration digestion. This makes you feel full and loss of appetite is also taken care of. Stomach inflammation is another common problem during summers. The more heat generating food you eat, the more heat you feel in your stomach. So stay away from fatty, fried foods. Eating foods like carrots, cucumber, probiotic rich foods helps improve digestion.” advises Dr Bhalla. Summer foods should be eaten in small quantities and at shorter intervals.

• Losing your Appetite- A Common Side Effect Of Summers

“I’ve come across many foodies who would love to eat round the year but in summers, the case changes. Force feeding yourself is obviously not an option.” says Dr Bhalla. As originally answered by Dr. Neesha Choksy, consultant nutritionist and fitness trainer, on doctor.ndtv.com, “Appetite decreases partly with heat because body is trying to be cool. Most of the processes within our body produce heat and hence to get the temperature of our body back to normal, body attempts to keep itself cool, suppressing the appetite to manage its work load. Moreover, as you perspire, you also lose vitamins and minerals. This causes a chemical imbalance in the body and this also contributes to the suppression of appetite.”

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Anushika Srivastava is an Intern with SheThePeople.Tv