It is that time of the year again – the lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer (ok, well it FEELS like summer even though technically it is another week away…)
In most places the weather has been pretty darn hot, and we tend to turn to ice cold lite beer or a skinny cow ice cream bar to help us cool down.
As strange as it may seem, those are not necessarily the best choices to make for cooling you off!
Because of the way these items react inside your body, they are likely to make you feel hotter in the long run!
Didn’t see that one coming did you?
Better choices would be fresh fruits and vegetables with a high water content. Think melons of all varieties, citrus fruits, and salad vegetables. Lettace, cucumbers, radishes, celery – these are all loaded with water that can help cool you right down.
“Cool as a cucumber” is an accurate statement!
Drinking a lot of water will also help keep you from getting dehydrated as well as cooling you off!
Traditional Chinese Medicine would concur – they classify these raw foods as food with cooling properties, they clear heat, flush out toxins and increase body fluids.
And a nice vegetable or fruit salad won’t heat up your kitchen!
For even better results, make a salad dressing that contains something spicy like ginger or a little red pepper. While you may think of these as “hot” they can make you sweat, which will cool you off!
The combination of cool, raw veggies and spicy dressing will cool you off both inside and out!
