What are the changes that happen in your body in summer? 

Dehydration, heat cramps, heat stroke restlessness symptoms due to excessive sweating. Children and working people are more prone to such many times they forget to drink water and other liquids. Generally, our body controls our own body temperature, control by Hypothalamus (part of our Brain). When body temperature increases by its set point, nerves send a message to the hypothalamus and it starts its heat loss mechanism such as sweating. High-temperature increases sweating this is a general mechanism of our body, but this system breaks down when people don’t drink enough water and suffer from heat stroke and dehydration. The symptoms of heat stroke & dehydration are:

  1. Elevated body temperature
  2. Dry skin  or excess oily skin 
  3. Rapid heartbeat
  4. Increased or decreased blood pressure
  5. Headache
  6. Confusion
  7. Unconsciousness.
  8. EczemaPeople lose large amount of salt and water through sweat. 

It results in low sodium levels in the blood. This is a condition known as hyponatremia. This condition can be dangerous, and cause muscle cramps. Hyponatremia, electrolyte imbalances and crams in muscle generally happen during and after exercises because of excess sweating.        

In accordance with these changes what are the food items, one should include in summer and why? 

Here are some of my favourites and why they’re a particularly good choice in the summer:

  • Increase liquid intake 
  • Have more liquids in form of buttermilk, 
  • lime water, coconut water and especially water,
  • If you’re having 1-2 litres of water, make it up to 3 in summer. 
  • Berries and Cherries: Berries and Cherries contains lots of minerals and antioxidants, which keeps you energised    
  • Tomatoes There’s no question that sunscreen should be your first line of defence against the blazing summer sun. But eating tomatoes could give you a little extra protection: consuming more lycopene—the carotenoid that makes tomatoes red—mayprotect your skin from sunburn.   
  • Melons Staying hydrated keeps your memory sharp and your mood stable. It also helps keep your body cool (by sweating) during hot summer months. The good news is that you don’t just have to drink water. You can eat it, too: in addition to delivering skin-protecting lycopene, melons contains the highest amount of water than other fruits.   
  • Iced Tea Sure, a tall glass of iced tea on a hot day is refreshing.        

 What should one avoid in summers? 

  • Avoid more Spices We are certainly fond of rich and spicy food, but it is better to avoid them for at least couple of months during summer. 
  • Spices like chilli, ginger, pepper, cumin seeds and Cinnamon are body heating as they are found to boost the rate of metabolism considerably and naturally have a thermogenic effect on the body that is pretty strong. 
  • Avoid Non-vegetarian Foods Many non-vegetarian foods like red meat, egg, prawns, squid and crab generate excessive heat and are always better to be avoided during summer. They can also upset your stomach or cause diarrhoea.  
  • Minimize Intake of Dried Fruits  Even though dry fruits are considered extremely healthy, they have a lot of heat. So, it is advisable to minimize the intake of dry fruits during summer.  
  • Oily and Junk Food Burgers, pizzas, French fries and the numerous variety of oily junk food can test your digestive ability and increases the chances of food poisoning.  

What to eat? 

Guidelines to eat in summers Summer threshing formulas

1. Drink plenty of water to prevent dehydration 

2. Fruit and Vegetable juices without adding sugar. It not only hydrates you but also provides many micronutrients to keep us active in this hot weather.

3. Coconut water is best to prevent heat-related problems.

4. Traditional drinks such as Nimbu sharbat, cocum sharbat, Amm panh can be consumed in emergencies. 

5. Include cucumber, onion, coriander, mint, watermelon, muskmelon in your regular diet.

6. Limit alcohol and caffeine, which actually dehydrate you.

7. Eat freshly cooked food because bacteria in food grow very fast in summers which cause diarrhoea foodborne diseases.

8. Avoid heavy fried items.

9. Eat light at night