Things to Eat This Summer to Stay Healthy

Summer is well and truly here! I can sense you sweating just at the mention of the word summer even as the heat wraps itself around my sticky fingers and makes typing this blog out much more difficult than it should be. Luckily, there are several things you can do to best equip yourself against summer and ride out this heat wave, starting with incorporating certain things into your diet. Let’s take a look at some of these things:

Summer Food To Try in The Hot Weather

1. Watermelon Juice

Chock-full of Vitamin C, calcium, iron and various minerals and vitamins, watermelon juice is a perfect summer drink that can refresh you while also keeping fatigue and stress at bay. Like all fruits, watermelon contains natural sugar, which is good for the body. Further, this juice has several health benefits due to the presence of anti-oxidants, potassium and Vitamin B.

2. Cold Soups:

Soups such as Chilled Corn Soup, Chilled Cucumber Soup and Gazpacho are delicious and healthy summer treats that require very little preparation time. Seasoning a cold soup is easy because flavours tend to get muted in cold dishes, so you can season on the fly. You could even make watermelon soup, provided you use an extremely juicy watermelon. Adding vegetables and some protein, like Tofu or Chicken, can turn one of these soups into a much fuller meal.

Also Read: Easy & Tasty Vegetarian Soup Recipes For a Healthy You

3. Salads

Bypass the stove and whip up a healthy salad that you can serve cold. Cantaloupe salad with olives and fresh basil make for a lovely, sweet and salty combo. If you’re particularly hungry, go for something like a Greek Pasta Salad with olives, tomatoes, onions and perhaps a vinaigrette dressing. Adding chicken or even apple to something like a classic green salad makes it a more substantial meal. Add mangoes or cherries to the timeless Bruschetta to give it an interesting twist.

4. Sandwiches

Sandwiches are easy to whip up and they taste great cold. The wide availability of different kinds of breads – from plain old white and brown options to whole-grain, subs, baguettes, paavs and various flavoured breads – mean you are spoilt for choice and are unlikely to ever get bored, even if you decide to spend the entire summer eating sandwiches. For fillings, add a few or as many as you want of these: cold chicken salad, coleslaw, cheese – for which, there are various options again – turkey, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, mayonnaise, parsley, and many more. When it comes to a sandwich, you are only limited by your imagination!

5. Ice Creams

Yes, ice cream doesn’t exactly qualify as a health food and seems a bit incongruous on this list. But, taken in moderation, ice creams have a surprising number of health benefits too. Some research suggests that consuming ice cream may help fight infertility. Since they’re made from milk, ice creams contain a fair number of nutrients for your body – potassium to help lower blood pressure, calcium and phosphorous to strengthen your bones and boost your sex drive. There is one more reason to eat an ice cream from time to time in the middle of a hot summer day – it will make you smile.

6. Curd

There are few better coolants in an Indian summer than curd or yogurt. Curd has a huge number of health benefits – it helps improve digestion, is good for your heart, boosts your immunity, is good for your teeth and bones (thanks to high levels of calcium and phosphorous) and can help you lose weight. Have it plain, flavoured or as a raita alongside your main course, or treat yourself to a refreshing and substantial mid-day snack by having it in the form of lassi or chhaach.

7. Coconut Water

Widely available in most Indian cities, coconut water is a wonderfully cooling drink loaded with minerals, electrolytes and sugar (the good kind). Coconut water is great for your skin, helps you lose weight by boosting your metabolism and is loaded with potassium. There are a significant number of brands around that are now selling packaged coconut water in bottles, but nothing beats having it in the purest form – straight out of the coconut at a streetside cart.

8. Green Vegetables

There’s been enough said about the health benefits of green, leafy vegetables, so it makes sense to have them all year ’round. They are particularly good in summer months due to their high water content, as long as you don’t remove too much of the moisture by over-cooking them. It may surprise you to know that onions are extremely effective coolants as well and help protect you from heatstroke.

For more insights, talk to our certified dietician and book one from Urban Company! By including items such as the ones suggested above in your diet, you’ll find that tackling the heat wave in 2017 is actually a breeze!