Eating Your Way Cool This Summer - Ten Top Tips
Ten Top Tips for Eating Your Way Cool This Summer
Are you a summer Person?
I’m not sure I’m totally in the sun every day camp.
Let me explain.
I do love the sun, to feel it soak through my skin into my joints is a pleasure it’s hard to comprehend unless you have painful joints and know the pain of a damp day.
So, the sun is good for my health and my mental well-being, because, if you don’t already know, I’m in the S.A.D camp when it comes to grey days.
The other side of all those great benefits, is the never changing day of sameness.
This I relish when on holiday.
By the pool, cold drink in hand, covered in sun oil, book in hand underneath the bright blue sky not a cloud in sight, the perfect holiday.
For everyday living, not my thing really.
That’s not to say that when I win the lottery, I won’t be flying out to view a nice two-bedroom cottage with large kitchen diner with pool in some hot, blue skied country.
While the weather is at its best in this country, I’ve compiled ten tips to help me stay cool and as fresh as possible and I thought I’d share them with you too.
Those you like, use and let me know how if they make a difference, and those you don’t like, just throw them away.
#1 & #2 Choose Seasonal Food & Stay Hydrated with Fruit & Veg’
I know lots of summer fruit has an abundance of water, but I was surprised to find out that bananas, even though not holding as much water as other fruit, can work to cool me down.
Full of potassium which can help to regulate my body fluids after excess sweating on a hot day.
I guess I’ll be adding a banana to my already over stuffed cold overnight oats this summer.
Avocados are all over social media right now, quite rightly, they are a fabulous fruit.
Not only are they good on toast with a bit of smoked salmon, my favourite way of eating them, and for the occasional Instagram picture, they are great to help me cool down.
I’ve begun to eat them straight from the skin with a splash of lime juice and eating them this way is good for my digestion too.
What about the usual summer vegetables?
Cucumber, celery, radish and lettuce are in abundance in the summer months, and with 96% of water, they make the perfect way to cool down and hydrate.
I don’t know about you but I could eat greens no matter the weather s it was great to find out that leafy greens are a great way to cool down this summer.
With spinach, 92% of water and watercress with 95%, they make the perfect addition to my summer salad.
This list might not surprise you, but here it is anyway.
A list of fresh fruit and vegetables with really high-water content:
Cucumbers
Strawberries
Watermelons
Courgettes
Pineapples
Mangos
Green peppers
Oranges
Iceberg lettuce
Celery
So much fruit so little time
#3 Keep Food Prep Quick or Batch Cook
Number 3 seems a no brainer when I think about it!
I try to stay away from as much of the heat releasing equipment in my kitchen during the hot weather, and stick to the smaller appliances.
My oven generates a lot of heat, which is great when I’m trying to warm the kitchen in the winter, not something I try to encourage during the long hot days.
Obviously, salads are the first thing I think of here, and i’m never one to pass up a good salad in a menu, but its always good to add some cold noodle dishes or fresh ceviche with added citrus instead.
If you’ve a family to cook for, batch cooking in the morning or early evening is a great way to make sure food is still around for everyone and that the oven is only on for the minimum amount of time.
Got bread to bake, do it first thing in the morning and at the same time cook some pasta for a pasta and red pepper salad for dinner to have with some grilled tuna or tinned tuna mayonnaise.
If you can find dishes that can come out of the freezer and go straight to the microwave, even better. Things like lasagnes, a batch cook of some bolognaise mixture to use between a soft bun for a sloppy joe will keep the kids happy.
If I’m going to cook during the hot hours, I’m going for the smallest pots i can. The larger the pot, the more heat it carries and the longer it will take to lose the heat and cool down.
If I use a small pot, it also means I’ll be using the smaller burner. Win, win.
#4 Stay Away from Heavy Foods That are Hard to Digest
What about some fish over the summer?
Eating a bit of fish kills two birds with one stone.
It’s light which makes it easy to digest and stops me getting that after meal sleepiness that I sometimes get in the heat and, it has up to 80% water making it a thirst quencher too.
Some shrimp or the occasional scallop are easier to digest proteins to have during the summer months. Make sure that seafood is super fresh before eating it, the hot weather will do bad things to it if not careful.
Overheated and with food poisoning is not a good look on anyone this summer.
I love ice-cream in hot weather but according the science, it’s not the best thing to eat to cool me down, in fact it may make me even hotter!
It’s all to do with the richness of the food I eat.
The university of Queensland said that our bodies generate heat when trying to digest ice cream and other rich foods making more heat.
So, digesting calorie rich foods leads to an increase in body temperature, but I’m not sure that is ever going to be enough to stop me eating my body weight in magnums though!
#5 Choose to Eat Herbs That Can Cool You Down
Mint, what a beautiful refreshing herb to eat during summer and its perfect to cool me down too.
It’s not the top of my list, but I have been known to use the mint from my garden pots to make a mint tea to drink.
Hot or cold it’s a thirst quencher and of course add the fragrant leaves to a salad too.
Have you ever had a salad made completely of herbs?
If not, this summer is the time to give it a go.
A herb salad is quite amazing, it’s like a flavour punch to the mouth and full of water good for hydration.
#6 Add a Few Spicy Foods to Your Diet
Now this may seem a little strange at first, the idea of eating a bit of spicy food such as a chilli pepper or a nice spicy curry to help keep cool during hot days?
Apparently, the heat from spicy food will make me sweat which in turn triggers all of my bodies cooling mechanisms.
I’m not a raw onion lass, but if it’s your thing, eat away.
A spicy raw onion added to food does the same as a chilli to help with a body cool down.
I’ve read that a raw onion is a great way to project against sunstroke too.
All that heat
#7 Don’t be Fooled, a Hot Drink Will Cool You Down
It may seem a bit strange to say that drinking a hot cup of tea will cool me down, but there’s science behind it, not just an old wife’s tale.
A hot drink is hotter than my body temperature, so when I drink my green tea, I’m adding heat to my body which might make me sweat. Not a pretty sight!
It’s the evaporation of the sweat that makes up for the heat I’ve added to my body by drinking the tea that cools me down
I still think I’d rather have a magnum ice-cream!
#8 Use Up Leftovers
This is my favourite.
Using leftovers is a perfect way to keep cool.
Once I’ve cooked a chicken in the morning cool, I like to divide it up to use for several lighter meals.
What about making chicken tacos, a chicken nacho salad or a tasty chicken panini with some fresh mint and parsley pesto.
Or get rid of the carbs all together and use some lettuce leaves to wrap around some shredded chicken for a cool and lighter use of the leftovers. One of the lovey Mr Gs favourite ways to eat it on a hot day.
A cup of tea t cool you down
#9 Cook Outside
This is an easy solution to a hot kitchen, and cooking outside doesn’t have to be expensive or difficult.
Years ago, when the kids were young, I used to buy those disposable BBQs and take them out to the garden with the kids.
We didn’t cook anything grand, just a few sausages, some fresh sweetcorn and everyone was happy. Because it was a break from the norm, they always thought it was something special.
Another bonus to me using them in the garden was that if I’d forgotten anything (the odd napkin or two), I didn’t have far to go to get it.
Now, with the lovely Mr G, a BBQ has taken on a grander life.
My favourite is to spatchcock a chicken, marinate it in spices and yoghurt for a couple of hours and then get it on to a hot BBQ, for about an hour.
Add a salad, some crusty bread and I’m in chicken heaven.
Another favourite of mine is to throw a steak on the BBQ. (I stopped myself saying barbie’).
One good size steak usually feeds me and the lovely Mr G if we slice it up and put in on top of a herb and watermelon salad.
Cooking and cooling for days!
Cooking outside keeps the heat out
#10 Red All the Way
A lot of red foods are the perfect things to eat in hot weather.
Try a slice or two of watermelon first thing in the morning.
It’s got 90% water, so perfect for keeping me hydrated, and let’s not forget all the other stuff its good for like reducing my blood pressure.
If you add a few slices of raw fresh onion and a few herbs, you’ve a great summer salad and it ticks a lot of the “stay cool’ boxes.
Of course, the most obvious thing is to use lots of ice and who doesn’t love a cool glass of something alcoholic when out in the sun?
I know one of the lovely Mr Gs favourite things in the summer heat, especially when he has his BBQ going, is a cold bottle of beer. Unfortunately, alcohol is dehydrating, it’s the same with caffeine, which for me as a pain as I’m a big diet coke addict. So, I guess I should start to cut down on that now.
Not another thing I have to cut out of my life?
Not sure I’m going to be able to tick that box not matter how hot the weather.
Maybe if I out lots of ice in the glass I can get away with it?
Red is cool
