6 Major Dietary Precautions for Summer Health
As summer arrives, attention should be paid to the diet for health preservation, eating in accordance with the seasons and solar terms. Picky eating habits should be avoided. In terms of health preservation, diet is about aligning with the natural timing, favorable conditions, and personal well-being. For summer health preservation, be sure to pay attention to these 6 major precautions.
6 Major Dietary Precautions for Summer Health
The following items are suggestions that can be chosen based on individual needs.
(1) Eat more gourds: In summer, high temperatures cause the body to lose a lot of water, which needs to be replenished in a timely manner. The water in vegetables is natural, clean, nutritious, and biologically active, filtered through multiple biological membranes. Gourd vegetables contain over 90% water. All gourd vegetables have the effect of lowering blood pressure and protecting blood vessels.
(2) Eat more cooling vegetables: Eating cooling vegetables helps to promote the production of saliva to quench thirst, relieve vexation and summer heat, clear heat, purge fire, and detoxify the bowels. Among gourd vegetables, except for pumpkin which is warm in nature, the rest such as bitter melon, loofah, cucumber, vegetable melon, watermelon, and muskmelon are all cooling in nature. Tomatoes, celery, and lettuce are also considered cooling vegetables.
(3) Eat more "germ-fighting" vegetables: Summer is a season when human diseases, especially intestinal infectious diseases, are common. Eating more "germ-fighting" vegetables can help prevent illness. These vegetables include garlic, onions, chives, and scallions. These allium vegetables are rich in plant-based broad-spectrum bactericides, which can kill and inhibit various cocci, bacilli, fungi, and viruses. Among them, garlic is the most effective, and it is best eaten raw.
The dietary conditioning for summer should be mainly low-fat, low-salt, rich in vitamins, and light. People sweat a lot and have poor appetites, so they can use various nutritious and health-boosting congee to stimulate the appetite and regulate the body. For example, eating congee for breakfast and dinner, and drinking soup for lunch can both promote the production of saliva to quench thirst, cool down and relieve summer heat, and nourish the body. When cooking congee, adding some lotus leaves (known as lotus leaf congee) gives it a delicate fragrance and a slightly bitter taste, which can refresh the spleen and stimulate the appetite, as well as dispel summer heat, nourish the stomach, clear the intestines, and promote the production of saliva to quench thirst. Adding mung beans to the congee or cooking mung bean soup alone has the effects of relieving summer heat, quenching thirst, clearing heat and detoxifying, and promoting the production of saliva and urination. Soaked dried lentils cooked with rice into congee can clear summer heat, transform dampness, strengthen the spleen, and stop diarrhea. In addition, red bean congee, mint congee, tremella fungus congee, kudzu root congee, and bitter melon congee are all good foods for summer.
At the same time, it is also important to supplement some nutrients.
(1) Supplement adequate vitamins, such as eating more fresh fruits and vegetables like tomatoes, green peppers, winter melon, watermelon, bayberry, muskmelon, peaches, and pears;
(2) Supplement water and inorganic salts, especially paying attention to potassium supplementation. Beans or bean products, fruits, and vegetables are all good sources of potassium. Eat more foods that clear heat and drain dampness, such as watermelon, bitter melon, peaches, dark plum, strawberries, tomatoes, and cucumbers, all of which have good effects of relieving summer heat;
(3) Supplement protein in moderation. Fish, lean meat, eggs, milk, and beans are all excellent sources of high-quality protein.