Healthy diet is an essential part of our life and there is no replacement for healthy foods. But people often make mistakes to follow the same diet through out the year irrespective of the changing seasons and weather.
This can be harmful because the needs of the body changes with seasons and we need to makes lifestyle and dietary changes to fight the heat in summer. Thus, we cannot eat foods that we enjoy in winter or monsoon because they can hamper our metabolism and digestion.
In summer, we need to choose foods that are cooling, easy to digest, and keeps us hydrated from within. But there are few common foods that are a part of our daily diet and we tend to ignore the amount of consumption in summer. Thus, below is the list of best foods to avoid in summer.
Coffee should not be consumed more than 400mg a day, which makes it four to five cups of the drink. But the amount differs from person to person considering the season, health, and their metabolism. Moreover, coffee contains caffeine that is diuretic in nature and can result in excess fluid loss in the body which can cause dehydration. It can also cause restlessness and insomnia due to excess adrenaline rush. Caffeine is a psychostimulant that refuels us with energy and interferes with the sleep cycle.
Sodas are used to prepare refreshing drinks in the summer and we tend to deink soft drinks as well but they are quite harmful for us in general. Sodas contain sugar, carbon dioxide, caffeine, sugar vegetable oils, etc. all these cause weight gain, cardiovascular diseases and increase the risk of obesity and diabetes. They are also dehydrating in nature thus do not even keep us hydrated in summers.
Alcohol is not a good option to have fun on a summer day if you are chilling with your friends because it is dehydrating in nature and also affects the kidneys and liver negatively. Hot summer days cause fluid loss through perspiration and alcohol causes fluid loss through increased urination. Thus, alcohol in summer is a bad combination and together they can lead to dehydration or heat stroke.
Deep fried pakoras, french fries, and puris in the summer holiday is a common holiday diet in India when the families come together but it isn’t good for you on any given day, especially in summer months. The oil that is heated for long time causes instant heart burn and these foods hard to digest. They also increase the body temperature causing acidity. Consumption of greasy food in summer increases the activity of sebaceous glands of the skin resulting in break outs, blemishes and oily skin.
Spicy Foods are a given in Indian diet since the spices add flavour to their food. Indian food is rich in spices but too many spices increase the body temperature and put pressure on the body to work more hard to regulate the temperature. Thus you can use cooling herbs in your curries like coriander, mint, curry leaves, cumin, cardamoms for healthier meals.
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