What Are the Best Summer Foods for Wellness?
Many people don't like to eat during the hot summer because the heat affects their appetite. During this time, it is recommended to eat more foods that clear heat and remove fire, which is why people enjoy eating chilled watermelon in summer. What are the best health foods for summer? Foods suitable for consumption in summer include mung beans, lotus seeds, honey, lemon, etc. Let's take a closer look at them.
Summer is a season for nourishing the heart, as the heart is relatively fragile during this time. The heat can easily lead to irritation and sadness, which can harm the heart and blood. Although the taste of lotus seed cores is bitter, they can clear heart fire and are excellent for nourishing the heart and calming the nerves. They also have beneficial effects on the gastrointestinal tract.
Lemons are rich in vitamin C, the most natural whitening agent. Vitamin C can effectively prevent sunburn and protect the skin. After exposure to intense summer sun or returning from the beach, additional vitamin C supplementation is recommended.
White sugar tends to produce heat, so if you enjoy sweet foods, it is recommended to use rock sugar for hot drinks and honey for cold drinks. Honey itself inhibits bacterial growth and does not spoil easily. It can form a protective layer on the stomach lining, protecting areas with ulcers. Additionally, honey can protect the skin and inhibit bacterial growth on the skin.
All newly harvested fruits can be juiced and consumed. Juicing fruits can be more fun and flavorful than eating them whole. Fruits generally have a strong sense of satiety, so drinking fruit juice allows you to consume more without adding burden to the gastrointestinal tract. You can also create compound juices by combining multiple fruits.
As the temperature rises, gastrointestinal function gradually decreases. Consuming icy foods can harm the spleen and stomach. Although drinking hot tea may not feel refreshing at the moment, it will quench your thirst later. Warm tea helps nutrients from food travel faster throughout the body, which iced tea lacks. When brewing tea in summer, you can add ingredients like momordica cochinchinensis to clear heat, resolve summer heat, dissolve phlegm, stop cough, cool the blood, clear the lungs, lubricate the intestines, and quench thirst; red dates to strengthen the spleen and stomach and tonify qi and blood; goji berries to improve vision and nourish the liver and kidneys; and rose petals to regulate menstrual flow and soothe the liver and regulate qi.
Mung beans can clear heat. They can be cooked into a soup without adding sugar. To nourish the stomach while clearing heat, you can cook mung beans with rice to make a porridge.