Healthy eating during the hot season: five useful tips
- Drink more fluids. In summer, a person loses a lot of moisture. Healthy eating should aim to restore balance. Give up coffee and black tea in favor of clean water, compotes, ginger and green tea, and freshly squeezed juices.
- Cut down on calories. Scientists have calculated that in summer a person’s daily caloric need decreases by 5-10%. Proper nutrition in summer is light, low-calorie and varied food every day.
- Change your diet. Proper nutrition in summer involves shifting main meals to cooler times of the day. So, it is better to have breakfast at 6-7 in the morning, have lunch before the midday heat (before 12:00), and have dinner no later than 6 in the evening. In this case, breakfast should account for up to 40% of the daily amount of calories.
- Don't go to extremes. A healthy diet involves getting your body all the nutrients, vitamins and minerals it needs. Make sure that your diet contains a sufficient amount of proteins, fats, carbohydrates, micro- and macroelements.
- More fiber. To normalize digestion, it is worth increasing the amount of foods containing fiber (parsley, lettuce, sorrel, cabbage, celery, spinach and others). On average, you need to eat 30-35 g of fiber per day (this is approximately 500-600 g of fruits and vegetables).
Cold coffee
Yes, your favorite summer drink has health benefits: It may help prevent skin cancer. In a 2012 study, women who drank 3 cups of caffeinated coffee per day had a significantly lower risk of developing basal cell carcinoma (a type of skin cancer) than women who drank coffee only occasionally. The authors of the study, published in an oncology journal, say the same skin benefits can be expected for men. Instead of going to a coffee shop, make Ina Garten's iced coffee recipe at home. Recipe:
Cold Iced Coffee Categories:
Healthy eating / Summer dishes / Recipe collections / Food Network - recipes / Culinary articles
Natalya Gabovskaya, editor of the “Children” section:
“Spending time on ourselves is a luxury that we allow ourselves less and less, especially when we start a family. After all, these hours and minutes could be devoted to family and friends. And then we can’t even remember what we really like to do. It won’t take long for you to forget how to enjoy life. Remember yourself more often. Allow yourself the greatest luxury - time to be yourself."
photo: Hero Images/Hero Images/Getty Images
6. Go to the nearest river/canal/lake and feed the ducks. No ducks - feed the pigeons.
7. Finally meet the dawn. Moreover, now the sun rises later and later.
8. Have a picnic with friends and carefree chat about nothing and everything at once.
9. Have time to buy that beautiful skirt at the summer sale. Let it be a guarantee that next summer will be even cooler and more wonderful.
10. Bake an apple pie: it will smell like August and the clear warmth of September. Or maybe dare to try apple jam?..
Vitamins in summer
It turns out that by sweating we lose not only fluid, but also microelements, as well as vitamins, especially those that are water-soluble - vitamins C, PP, B1, B2, B6. The result of such losses can be not only vitamin deficiency, but also lethargy, decreased immunity and, as a result, diseases. But you really don’t want to get sick in the summer!
Therefore, in order not to deprive yourself of the opportunity to enjoy the warm season, you need to include in your diet as many fresh seasonal fruits, berries and vegetables as possible, preferably growing in the area where you live. It is also important to drink freshly squeezed juices, herbal teas, compotes, fruit drinks, kvass and self-prepared smoothies - fruit cocktails.
Lyudmila Yankina, news editor:
“I don’t like autumn and I’m very angry about this terrible summer! Maybe I am so thermophilic because I was born in June and, as my mother said, it was unbearably hot that day. In any case, you wait and wait for summer, but it appears for 3 weeks and that’s it - write letters. As they say, it’s a shame, it’s annoying, but okay, he’ll think positively.”
photo: Personal archive
36. Fall in love! In the neighbor, in the actor of the new series, in yourself, in the end! Stop looking at the reflection so critically every time you pass by the mirror. Today, the body positive movement is confidently conquering the whole world. Join us!
37. Visit a cafe, but be sure to choose a place on the open veranda. It’s not for nothing that it’s called summer, so you should definitely spend August 31st there. It gets cold - ask for a blanket, but try to hold out for at least half an hour. Oh yes, don’t forget to take a photo for memory!
38. When you return home, treat yourself to a belly celebration. Order a huge pizza with unhealthy soda or a whole set of sushi for a large group, but eat it all alone. Allow yourself to relax: home workouts (that no one should ever see!), your favorite TV series and fast food - what could be better on the last day of summer, when you can remember its most pleasant moments.
39. Buy a gym membership (especially after the previous point). If you didn’t manage to lose weight by summer, then by the new year you should succeed. I believe in you!
40. Stop by the bookstore. Autumn is an excellent occasion to get acquainted with new authors and works, although no one has canceled the good old classics either. Remember what you never managed to read during your school years (the summary doesn’t count)? Maybe the time has come?
Ksenia Voronezhtseva, correspondent:
“It seems to me that if you don’t set yourself up for the fact that today is the last day of summer, you can spend it much more pleasantly. Moreover, Indian summer is still ahead. On the other hand, it is necessary to celebrate August 31st. On the couch with a TV series is not an option. So, I propose."
photo: Andrea Comi/Moment/Getty Images
16. Finally take your new swimsuit for a walk. This summer has not been generous with hot days, but better late than never. If the weather does not permit, you can go with friends to a water park or swimming pool.
17. Have a watermelon day. The watermelon season will soon end, so why not gorge yourself on them for the whole year ahead, and at the same time lose a couple of extra pounds: if we didn’t have time to lose weight by summer, we’ll lose weight by autumn!
18. Buy a bicycle or scooter. Now there are big discounts on them in stores. It's time to get a two-wheeler. Moreover, you will be able to ride it for at least another couple of months.
19. Choose a hobby. In September, enrollments begin in dance, sports sections, language, art, theater schools, etc. To avoid being sad in the fall, you can choose some interesting activity outside the office and at home. New impressions and new acquaintances are just what the doctor ordered for the autumn blues.
20. Print summer photos. How many cool pictures each of us has in our numerous phone folders! It's time to collect them in a photo album or make a photo book. At the same time, looking through the photos, remember once again how wonderful this summer was.
“Cold” summer menu
In search of recipes to get rid of the heat and nourish the body, humanity has invented such wonderful summer dishes as okroshka, cold borscht and vegetable soups, which diversify the diet and replenish fluid deficits.
Ideally, okroshka, which is popular in the hot weather, should be cooked with homemade kvass, as well as kefir, buttermilk, ayran, and tan. Try adding feta cheese or smoked cheese to okroshka instead of traditional sausage or meat; it will not only be tasty, but also more healthy.
It is important to remember one rule - such dishes should not be too cold, as they can provoke colds. The temperature of cold food should not be below 10°C, then the food will not only be pleasant, but also healthy.
What foods should or should not be consumed in summer?
In the summer, we are often tormented by thirst and to quench it, under no circumstances turn to black tea and coffee for help. It is necessary to limit their consumption, just like the consumption of juices and carbonated drinks, they do not quench thirst well. Give preference to green tea and mineral water. Mint tea will perfectly quench your thirst, and ginger tea will refresh and tone you in hot weather.
Eat more fruits, they replenish your body with essential vitamins. But it is worth remembering that fruits are best consumed in the diet in the morning. This way they are better absorbed, but if you eat them at night, they provoke a fermentation process in the stomach.
You need to be careful with dairy products, as microorganisms develop faster in them. In hot weather, it is best to give preference to fermented milk products. Kefir is indispensable during this period; first of all, it will quench thirst, saturate and replenish the body with essential microelements.
Proper nutrition in summer - the benefits of seasonal products
Today we will understand how to eat properly in the summer and talk about the principle of seasonal nutrition .
Read an article about the benefits of seasonal autumn products here.
Whatever they say about the benefits of overseas vegetables, fruits and all sorts of superfoods , I am in favor of eating foods grown in our latitudes (I am not against exotics, but I am not in favor of replacing good products from our latitudes with them). The body is smart and it genetically better perceives the food that its ancestors ate. And our ancestors ate according to the seasons; they didn’t have much choice. For you and me, this approach is also reasonable, because... genetic characteristics change very slowly.
Seasonal summer products are products saturated with solar energy, therefore the most useful. They are grown in our latitudes, not brought from distant countries, fresh, giving us all the gifts that summer is rich in.
Personally, I adore summer for its brightness, richness and, of course, amazing gifts of nature. Either the fact is that I was born in the summer, or it just so happened that there was always a vacation in the summer. I don’t know... I know that summer is a celebration of life and a sea of “live” food
Summer food is also a holiday in itself.
So why is summer nutrition the best?
1) Summer nutrition is the healthiest of all seasons; it is replete with natural and fresh foods . The berries alone are worth it! About berries and the whole truth about berry diets in the article here.
Everyone knows that the more vegetables and fruits in the diet , the better it is. Read about the importance of color in the diet here.
And ripening young summer vegetables and fruits are tender and therefore require little cooking time and practically eliminate heat treatment. Plus, the fruits of our latitudes are fresh in summer and do not need storage or transportation from distant countries, which reduces the likelihood of various types of processing.
2) Summer fruits are the most delicious and juicy, saturated with plenty of sunlight. The taste of fruits and vegetables depends on how much solar energy they absorb. It’s not for nothing that the sweetest fruits grow in warm latitudes, which we associate with summer.
3) In summer, fruits are cheaper than at any other time of the year. Vegetables and fruits are usually the most expensive products. But if you buy them in season , you can save money while creating a healthy diet . Watermelon, berries, cucumbers and tomatoes are much cheaper in the summer. They grow in sufficient quantities at this time of year, so they are sold cheaper.
I will separately highlight 10 fruits that summer so generously bestows on us, and I will describe why these ten deserve attention.
The healthiest summer food
1) The summer holiday is crowned with our favorite and healthy berries - strawberries and cherries . In addition to their benefits, these berries are sweet and also low in calories, which makes them the best summer desserts (100 grams of berries contain up to 50 kcal, depending on the variety). I repeat, a new article is here about the benefits of berries.
2) Summer is also decorated with our favorite plum . It perfectly helps us in the fight against waste and toxins in the body.
3) Cucumbers are the real superfoods of summer. I don’t know why we now have such a stir for all kinds of overseas food... Perhaps I’ll write an article on this topic, and let’s figure it out. Our summer cucumbers are fresh from the greenhouse, and even homemade - the best of the best.
Low-calorie cucumbers contain rare antioxidants: gallic, caffeic, coumaric and cinnamic acids. I don’t even make salads lately; I cut them into slices for lunch, dinner and snacks too!
4) Where there is a cucumber, there is a tomato! Tomatoes have become famous for their lycopene, also a natural antioxidant. Lycopene is better absorbed with fats. We remember a healthy diet and include healthy oils in the menu, such as flaxseed. About creating a diet, kbzhu, simple and healthy products here.
But don't get carried away with tomatoes , one medium tomato contains your daily sodium requirement. Sodium retains fluid in the body. So don't be surprised if after an evening dinner with an abundance of tomatoes you wake up with swelling .
5) Another favorite vegetable of mine is sweet bell pepper . Rich in B vitamins, potassium, iron, silicon and even contains iodine. Peppers are also low in calories and contain a high amount of capsaicin, a substance that promotes weight loss and improves the structure of blood vessels and skin.
6) I haven’t yet met people who don’t like carrots in one form or another! And early summer carrots are the healthiest, they contain a huge range of vitamins and, of course, carotene (a precursor to vitamin A). Carrots help strengthen the immune system , have antioxidant properties , and improve digestion and blood circulation. Yes, and any dish can be deliciously complemented with carrots, be it a salad, soup or even juice!
7) The second half of summer is decorated with the beneficial properties of new potatoes . Potatoes are also a good product! It is quite nutritious, rich in slow carbohydrates (starch is a slow complex carbohydrate!), fiber and contains proteins such as globulin, albumin, protein, peptone. Potatoes also contain useful limiting acids - oxalic, malic, citric.
The healthiest potato recipe is baked potatoes with the peel, this is how the properties of this vegetable are revealed best and the potassium content is preserved, this is very important. Also, baked potatoes have a low calorie content - 80 kcal per 100g.
8) The end of summer gives us such wonderful products as watermelon and melon . The content of vitamins and nutrients in them is huge, and they also consist of almost 90% water (melon - 80%). But it should be noted that you should not abuse these products due to the sufficient amount of simple carbohydrates, water and fiber. Simple carbohydrates in quantities greater than necessary affect weight gain, and water and fiber provoke the body’s excretory systems
*Also, these fruits do not combine well with other foods and are best eaten at a separate time, preferably during the day.
9) Another seasonal product is sorrel . It has a unique composition and low calorie content (22 kcal per 100g). Sorrel is practically irreplaceable for us after 2 seasons without natural vitamins. Sorrel affects the increase in hemoglobin, helps improve the functioning of the liver and intestines, and the entire metabolism in general.
10) Let’s finish off the 10 years of useful things with mint . Our great-grandfathers bequeathed us to use mint leaves. Because mint is truly unique. Not only is it rich in nutrients and has a calming effect, but it also adds a touch of piquancy to our dishes.
Of course, summer is not limited to a dozen of these products, but I think this is the topic of another article...
Seasonality is a very important principle of healthy nutrition. This principle contains the wisdom of nature. Seasonal summer products are products saturated with solar energy, therefore the most useful.
Summer is the time for cold soups, salads, both vegetables and fruits, juicy grilled vegetables, fruit and berry smoothies, cocktails, and natural sweets.
Summer mood and busy delicious days!
Strawberry
Strawberries are an excellent source of vitamin C (one glass contains more than the daily value of this antioxidant).
Vitamin C is important for collagen synthesis, which helps skin remain firm and wrinkle-free, and helps prevent and heal skin damage associated with ultraviolet radiation. Sprinkle the berries over cereal or yogurt for breakfast, or use them in this sweet-savory fennel and arugula salad. Recipe:
Salad with fennel, arugula and strawberries
