Summer can a good time to change your eating habits. You can begin by eating plenty of fruits and vegetables and avoiding all foods that can make you sick by raising your blood pressure, triggering headaches and migraines, or add extra pounds.
Summer is also a good time to spend more time outdoors to burn calories and make your heart beat faster. Consider starting some enjoyable physical activities which you can turn into healthy habits.
But when it’s hot and humid outside, we all want to be cool, so here are some food for summer ideas that might help you feel and look better in the heat.
The most cooling food for summer is fruit, and that’s because fruits contain lots of water. Try to eat fruits grown in season, such as melons, apples, grapes, pears, cherries, apricots, berries, plums, peaches, mangos, papaya, tomatoes as well as all citrus fruits.
Fruit is both cooling and can act as a laxative, which can help y
our body not only to cool off, but also help with your summer weight loss detox, and cleanse.
Leafy vegetables can also have a cooling effect on the body. You can make refreshing and cooling summer salads with slightly bitter-tasting, cleansing greens, such as dandelion greens, watercress and endive.
Other cooling vegetables include: asparagus, cabbage, cucumbers, radishes, broccoli, cauliflower, celery, zucchini.
As for roots vegetables, you can eat daikon and beets when you are hot.
Detox Turmeric Dressing is perfect match for your summer salads because it contains turmeric and yogurt – two cooling foods.
Have you tried sea vegetables? Summer may be the right time to experiment with them (kelp, spirulina, kombu, hiziki, arame, dulse) because all of them can help you feel cooler in the heat.
When you exercise more, you need extra protein. Healthy sources of protein that have a cooling effect on the body are: mung beans, grains such as rice, barley, millet, bulgur and couscous, tempeh, soy milk and fish.
Herbs and spices, such as peppermint, nettles, red clover, lemon balm, cilantro, marjoram can be a perfect addition to your cooling meals. They can also help simple detox of your body and boost your immune system.
P.S. You might also want to listen to our interview with award winning nutritionist and cookbook author Robyn Webb: Get Your Swimsuit Summer Ready.
Never forget to breathe, smile and be happy.
©Irina Wardas, HHC
Women’s Holistic Health, Nutrition Counselor
June 25, 2012