We need to keep a full control of what we eat and drink during the summers. And, for this we need a thorough planning of our diet and dietary intakes for the summers. Summers are the months of scorching sun and rising temperatures, but at the same time it is also the months of some delicious offerings that the nature has to give us in the form of fruits and vegetables.

Eating smart in summers is always recommended in order to stay fit and cope up with the weather. Let’s look into the certain dietary changes that we all should make to get summer ready:

• Cut back the intake of hot, spicy and salty foods

Summers are hot and so are the temperatures of the body. Moreover, digesting foods take longer in the stomach during summer than in other months. Avoid eating foods that are naturally hot like – peppers, onions, garlic, and bell peppers and alike. Instead have more of leafy vegetables, fruits and easy summer foods like spinach and carrots.

• Avoid fried and processed foods

Fried and processed foods are laden with fats and heat. These foods have thermal effect on the body. Avoid having vadas, samosas, chips and bhajjiyas, instead have more of fresh and home cooked season produces.

• Include these in your daily diet

There are certain fruits and vegetables that are summer’s gift to mankind. Enjoy them as much as you can during the hot season.

• Corns: This summer treat is a power house of two natural sunscreen – lutein and zeaxanthin, the two anti-oxidants that protect our body and eyes from the rays of the sun. It has also the capabilities of protecting us from muscular degeneration that actually happens with age.
• Tomatoes: Sunscreens are the first thing that we run after in the summers. Tomatoes have lycopene – a carotenoid that gives tomatoes it colour. It is helpful in providing additional and natural protection from the sun and sun burns and sun strokes.
• Watermelon: This water rich fruit helps us stay hydrated during the summers and thereby, helps in improving our energy and mood. Moreover, eating or drinking as a juice, watermelon helps us stay fuller and satisfied for longer, thereby, not letting us have those high calorie foods that can make life difficult for us in summers.
• Cherries: Another summer fruit that have loads in its kitty to offer us. High in beta-carotene, vitamin C, quercetin and anthocyanin, helps in controlling blood pressure, fights cancer and even helps in weight loss. Great isn’t it?
• Raspberries: This summer fruit is a great source of fibres. it helps lowering cholesterol levels, prevents weight gain and keeps us full and satiated.

• Avoid all forms of carbonated beverages, reduce your caffeine intake and cut bak on alcohol consumption

All of it apart from containing sugar, preservative and artificial colouring can reduce the mineral levels in the body causing improper body functionality and digestion. Excessive consumption of carbonated beverages can lead to damages in the inner linings of the digestive tract, as it contains diluted phosphoric acids. It damages the bones too, making them weak and brittle.

• Be a smart eater

You have been a little careless during the winters, but there is no scope to be so in the summers. You have to act smartly in not only choosing what you eat and drink, but also with how you eat and drink. Eat smaller meals at short intervals. Likely in a gap of every three hours. This helps improving your metabolism. Eat more of proteins and fibers and less of carbohydrate rich foods. Make sure that you totally avoid having any processed and packaged foods. It might be a lit bit more, but than this will make you stay healthy and happy in the summers.

Changes are required to be made in the kitchen too, so that you neither see they and neither consume them. Get rid of the candies, cookies, chips and baked goods. Load your refrigerator with more fresh summer yields – fruits and vegetables. Stock up on healthy nuts and seeds, healthy raw foods like whole grains and other fibrous foods.

Changing your entire lifestyle is not the main aim in here. Start small, but think big. Summers are the best time to start as, these are days of holidaying and relaxing and you have more time to concentrate on your health and get summer ready.