What should you eat in the summer to beat the heat?
Summer is the time of year when the body's metabolism is most active and the nutritional demand is highest. People get less sleep and have a poor appetite. At the same time, due to excessive sweating, large amounts of water and nutrients are easily lost. Therefore, experts remind us that during this period, it is important to pay attention to proper "supplementation" and maintain a balanced nutritional state and good food hygiene.
In terms of seasonings, you can use sour, spicy, and aromatic ingredients like vinegar, garlic, ginger, and mustard. These can help clear heat, sterilize, detoxify, and enhance appetite. Summer dishes can be made slightly saltier because you sweat more and lose more salt. Additionally, drinking large amounts of water can dilute stomach acid, so it is necessary to add a bit more salt to dishes to replenish the lost salt. You can also eat some ginger in the summer, which aids in the digestion and absorption of food. It also has a stimulating effect on the heart and blood vessels, increasing heart rate, accelerating blood circulation, opening sweat pores, and promoting smooth sweat excretion, which is beneficial for preventing heatstroke.
1. Supplement with protein. In the summer, the body's nutritional consumption is high and its metabolism is vigorous. Therefore, it's important to frequently eat foods rich in high-quality protein that are also easy to digest. Recommended foods: eggs, fish, lean meats, soy products, and milk.
2. Supplement with vitamins. The body's vitamin requirement in the summer is one to two times higher than the normal standard. Therefore, you can eat more fresh vegetables and fruits. Recommended foods: tomatoes, watermelon, muskmelons, honey peaches, plums, and bayberries, all of which are rich in vitamin C.
Preventive Health Diet for Heatstroke
During the height of summer, high environmental temperatures and high humidity make it difficult for the body to dissipate heat. Excessive heat buildup can cause the body's temperature regulation center to malfunction, leading to heatstroke. Therefore, in addition to physical cooling methods, attention must also be paid to dietary adjustments to prevent heatstroke.
Drink more soups. When a person sweats a lot and loses significant body fluids, drinking more soup can replenish water in a timely manner and is also beneficial for digestion and absorption. Simple and easy-to-learn "heatstroke-preventing soups" include hawthorn soup, mung bean and sour plum soup, honeysuckle soup, and watermelon rind soup.
Drink more tea. Research comparing people who drink warm tea and those who drink cold beverages on hot days has shown that warm tea can lower skin temperature by 1-2 degrees, while cold drinks only cool the area around the mouth. Tea drinkers feel cool and comfortable, and their thirst is completely quenched, whereas cold drinkers feel uncomfortable all over and their thirst persists. For people working in high temperatures, adding a little salt to warm tea to compensate for the salt lost through excessive sweating is even more beneficial for preventing heatstroke.
Eat more congee (rice porridge). In the hot summer, the stomach and intestines are stimulated by the summer heat, and their function can be relatively weakened. This can easily lead to discomforts like a heavy head, lethargy, and loss of appetite. In severe cases, it can lead to heatstroke. Therefore, drinking health-concentrated congee to relieve summer heat is one of the dietary measures to consider, such as mung bean congee, honeysuckle congee, mint congee, lotus seed congee, lotus leaf congee, and lotus root congee.
Eat more green vegetables. When the weather is hot and humid, people generally prefer light, fresh, and non-greasy foods. Green vegetables have these characteristics and are also rich in vitamins and minerals. Therefore, you should try to eat more green vegetables, such as various beans, gourds, bok choy, and cilantro. They can be eaten raw as a cold salad or stir-fried with a little lean meat.
Eat more melons and fruits. Melons and fruits are juicy and sweet, not only to quench thirst but also to clear heat and relieve summer heat. Watermelon, with its sweet, juicy, and cool nature, is the top melon for clearing summer heat and quenching thirst. Additionally, eating muskmelons and cucumbers raw after washing them, or drinking their juice, has a very good effect of clearing heat and relieving summer heat. Kiwi fruit contains a large amount of vitamin C and has an excellent effect of clearing heat and relieving summer heat, making it a frequently chosen fruit and beverage for people working in high temperatures and in the wild.