Beat the Summer Heat with Cooling Foods - The Natural & Healthy Way
Beat the Summer Heat
Summer heat can be very exhausting and dehydrating but with these cooling foods, you don't need to sit under the air conditioner all day. Did you know that according to World Socialist Website, 39 people died across the US because of extreme heat waves? The elderly and young children are at a high risk of suffering from these abnormal temperatures. There is a way to cool your body from the inside out - by eating plenty of cooling foods that can help you beat the summer heat! Here is a list of cooling foods that will keep your body cool from the inside out. The best part is - it's natural, healthy and cheap!
Cooling Foods to Beat the Summer Heat
Cucumbers
This wonderful water-filled vegetable is not only a great way to beat the scorching heat but it offers low calories so it's very healthy. It contains zero fat and no cholesterol. What's more when eaten with its peel, it is a good dietary fiber that helps prevent constipation and that in the long run, prevents extra buildup of heat in the body. So, use cucumbers and other leafy vegetables with high water content to make a fresh vegetable or fruit salad.
Watermelon
On that sizzling summer day, what's better than enjoying a refreshing energy drink made by blending sizeable watermelon cubes with fresh lime juice and popping in a few ice cubes?
A watermelon roughly contains 80-90% water making it a great thirst quencher. It also has a light taste of sweet sugar syrup that beats the neutral taste of natural water. Juicy and delicious water melons are a rich source of essential vitamins like vitamin A, B and C and anti-oxidants like lycopene. Eating a huge wedge of water melon sitting on your front porch is one of the best ways to enjoy the crunchy cooling fruit.
Coconut water
Coconut water is basically the translucent juice found inside a coconut when cracked open. The sweet water is packed with sugars, vitamins, minerals, electrolytes that make up this most refreshing natural drink. It replenishes and hydrates the body, keeping the body water levels balanced. It should be taken without any additional ingredients and immediately be used or stored in the refrigerator because it spoils easily. A simple way to enjoy this drink is by adding lime and mint leaves to iced coconut water.
Summer squash
What food screams summer more than summer squash? This creamy fleshy white food is a good source of anti-oxidants like carotenoids. It belongs to a family of plants that are related to watermelon and even cucumbers. Apart from having anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial properties, summer squash has healthy nutrients that help regulate blood sugar in our bodies. You can prepare a healthy meal of this yummy food by steaming it, which helps to retain most of the nutrients contrary to boiling or cooking using a microwave. It is better to eat summer squash alone or 30 minutes before a meal to prevent bloating.
Lemonade
Once summer pops up, there's a lemonade stand in every street you turn. Gulping down a chilled glass of good old lemonade is simply bliss on a hot sticky day. It has high water content and is rich in Vitamin C since it is made out of lemon.
Yogurt Smoothies
Yoghurt is a very important summer food as it cools you from the inside. Yogurt also aids in stomach digestive problems and it is easier to digest than milk. Since it is got from milk, yogurt has got calcium, important for skeletal health and bone-building. Make a power-boosting and energizing drink from yogurt. You can choose from simple homemade apricot smoothie blended in yogurt with a tangy taste to a frothy tasty mango lassi. However you take it, yogurt is a great way to stay cool in summer.
Citrus fruits
Apples, lime, oranges, grapefruit, peaches, pears among others have high water content and are rich in Vitamin C. Citrus fruits also aid in digestion and help in the breakdown of fatty foods, thereby keeping you in shape. By releasing heat from the body, they regulate the body's hydration levels. Toss a handful of citrus fruits in your fruit salad and enjoy a healthy and fruity desert that will keep you cool in the summer.
Spicy pickles
Thinking of spicy hot foods and boiling hot summer in one sentence can make anyone go crazy. But spicy foods actually cool the body by increasing circulation of blood and also by inducing sweating which releases the excessive heat from our bodies. Adding spices like hot chili pepper, capsicum or ginger helps to rapidly raise your body temperature then lower it which lowers your internal body temperature. Try different chilly foods ranging from Indian curries, sizzling Mexican summer salad to Thai soups.
Green Tea
For tea lovers out there, it's a relief there's something called iced green tea which you can enjoy in summer. The light green drink originated from China and can simply be made by boiling green tea leaves in distilled water. Green tea is full of anti-oxidants and had anti-aging properties that keep your skin smooth from any wrinkles. Sunburns can be healed by taking green tea. Because of its slightly bitter taste, green tea maybe unpleasant but you can add a little zest by brewing it with mint leaves for a refreshing taste and serve over ice.
Cooling Foods - What about Ice Cream?
Surprisingly, ice cream and ice cold beverages like beer are not on the list because they intervene with digestion and sweating. Of course they can give you temporary relief but in the long run affect your body's natural cooling system.
Armed with these cooling foods, you can beat the summer heat and you can keep cool and healthy starting from the inside.
