SUMMER DIET DO’S AND DON’TS

Foods

DO eat cooling foods like watermelon, yoghurt and berries, as they are low calorie and therefore require very little energy for digestion. It’s essential to keep your body temperature down, hence the call for low caloriefoods. Chilled foods like fresh fruit sorbets and salads; cold lean meat, fish, etc., is excellent for a healthy summer meal.

DON’T eat any fruit or vegetables that have been cut and sold on open carts in the street. Bacteria and viruses breed on these foods and pose a serious threat, causing diseases like typhoid, jaundice and diarrhoea.

Menus

DO include a variety of foods in your summer menus. You require all the essential nutrients during this fiercely hot season, particularly minerals that are lost in sweat. You can only replenish these micro-nutrients if you include plenty of fruit, vegetables, milk, cereals, meat, pulses and healthy fats in your diet.

DON’T cut out fat completely from your diet. It’s not healthy to do so. Your body needs essential fats that are available solely through your diet, so include olive oil, salmon and low fat milk and yoghurt in your daily summer menu.

Liquids

DO replenish lost body fluids caused due to excessive sweating, so as not to suffer from electrolyte imbalance. Sweat flushes sodium out of the system, and this needs to be restored. Drink lemon juice, coconut water, low fat buttermilk and fresh fruit juices to replace body fluids lost through sweating.

DON’T drink iced liquids. Any food consumed at extreme temperatures is not good for the body.It puts a strain on the system, with your body having to work that much harder tobalance the temperature of what’s going in, with the temperature of your body. Room temperature or lightly chilled drinks are ideal.

DO have watermelon juice or tomato juice which are particularly beneficial as they contain lycopene, which is a powerful antioxidant, keeping you fresh and healthy. It also effectively maintains the fluid content of your body.

DON’T overdo caffeinated or carbonated beverages, alcoholic beverages and sugary drinks, as they contain preservatives and are also acidic in nature while acting as diuretics. Intake of these drinks causes loss of fluids through urine, thereby dehydrating the body.

Above all, DOdrink recommended quantities of water and visit your doctor at the first sign of heat exhaustion or heat stroke.