Summers are here. Summers, for us, always mean comfortable clothing, water splashes, vacations, pool parties, & summer foods. But post the pandemic, since last year summer for us meant chilling at home, being safe with our loved ones. The vacations & pool parties can wait but the homemade smoothies & fruits are here to stay.
As we get ready for summer, when the world is fighting a global pandemic, our sanity & hygiene is on the top priority keeping in mind the tropical climate we live in. With the mercury rising over 40 degrees & an incessant heatwave, we have to be extra precautious to keep ourselves well-hydrated & make it bearable.
Wearing loose cotton clothes to make us cool & comfortable, drinking more than 2 litres of water each day, consuming fruits & vegetables with higher water contents are essential to help us stay fit during the hot & humid weather.
Let’s find 7 summer foods that help us beat the heat.
SUMMER FOODS TO BEAT THE HEAT
- Lemon: “When life gives you summer, make lemonades”. That means, lemons are great for the summer heat. They are rich in vitamin C and when mixed with water and homemade spices, we can make the best kind of summer coolant drink. We can also eat lemon as a part of our side salad.
- Watery fruits: Fruits are refreshing to eat all year long. But they have a special place for them in the summer season. Refreshing berries, watermelon, pulpy mangoes, peaches, litchi, grapes etc. These juicy fruits will help us beat sunstroke and keep us cool. They are full of antioxidants and will help us with weight management.
- Mint: When we think about mint, we get that refreshing feeling that takes away the exasperation of scorching summer heat. We can make mint mojitos to sip on our laid-back weekends or tangy pudina chutney along with our lunch. Either way, it amps up our taste buds and leaves us with a lingering experience.
- Cucumber: Without this vegetable, no platter of salad is considered complete. Because it is a completely hydrating vegetable made of more than 90% water. We can have it as a salad or eat it as individual food. It is fibrous and keeps us hydrated too.
- Curd, buttermilk or yoghurt: In Indian households, we generally keep a large stock of curd and curd substitutes. Curd or Dahi is full of the vitamin-B complex that helps in procuring summer acidity and indigestion. So does the buttermilk or chach. It is a refreshing drink that we can sip anytime during the day which makes us feel refreshed. Yoghurt is also a well-known probiotic food, which is good for our gut health during the summer.
- Onions: Onions are a must-have in every Indian household all through the year. The humble onion is a very well-known trick to combat sun-stroke. We use onions in our daily tadka or tempering & also add them into our side salad. Raw onions help our body temperature to stay normal.
- Leafy vegetables: Green leafy vegetables are ideal summer foods. They are known to be the best in adding essential vitamins and minerals to our diet and to help to build a good immune system. Spinach, kale, cabbage etc. are the most healthy vegetables for summer.
Order your summer fresh fruits and vegetables from your local stores. Only on oneapp. Download now.
Summers can be unbearable, thirst-quenching which makes us dehydrated & tiring. In order to beat the heatwave, we need to follow a particular diet. We need to drink lots of water and also remember to eat food that is high in vitamins and minerals which will keep us healthy and fit. We can try to control our body temperature in this heat only if we eat healthily & avoid junk food. Maintaining the right diet & consuming lots of water is the key to combat the scorching heat during summers.