When the thermometer slowly climbs to an uncomfortable height, just wearing the right clothes is no longer enough. You need to cool down! If you're stuck in the office during the day, you'll need to find other means than jumping into the cool water. When temperatures rise, you can cool down not only from the outside: cooling foods help you to better endure the heat on summer days. Incorporate them generously into your diet and enjoy a light breakfast that nourishes you but doesn't make you sluggish.
- List: These foods cool you from the inside
- Can food even be cooled?
- Which foods you should avoid in the summer heat
- It's all about the preparation.
- Caution with ice-cold drinks?
- Conclusion
You can cool down with more than just cooling foods. Other important tips for fighting the heat in summer include drinking plenty of water and avoiding direct sunlight.
List: These foods cool you from the inside
This list can help you create your cooking plan and shopping list to enjoy a refreshing breakfast in the summer. If you need inspiration, these recipes for a delicious summer breakfast will help you.
Cooling fruits and vegetables
- pineapple
- Avocado
- leaf salads
- Strawberries
- cucumbers
- Kiwis
- coconut
- spinach
- tomatoes
- Watermelon
- Lemons
- Zucchini
Cereals and legumes in summer
- Couscous
- chickpeas
- mung beans
- Tofu
- Kings
- Quinoa
Herbs and spices with a cooling effect
- basil
- dill
- fennel
- coriander
- Mint and peppermint
- sage
Drinks when feeling hot
- Green tea
- Coconut water
- Flavored water
Do you want to find the cool foods in your kitchen at a glance and be perfectly equipped for your next weekly shopping trip? You can easily print out this infographic and have all the information immediately available:
Can food even be cooled?
Food doesn't just make you feel full or taste good. According to the traditional concepts of TCM and Ayurveda, foods have certain properties. These can help to create balance and bring the organism back into balance. According to TCM or Ayurveda, food can also cool or warm your body from the inside. Warm soups or tea in winter are an intuitive solution to the cold. In summer, cooling foods help reduce the heat. Both approaches are preventive and are intended to prevent disease rather than fight it.
Cooling foods according to TCM
In traditional Chinese medicine, foods are considered to have a thermal effect and are also associated with the five elements. In a holistic diet you use these properties to bring yin and yang back into balance. Cold and refreshing foods increase yin, while warm and hot foods fuel yang. The TCM diet is not only intended to cool you down or warm you up in winter, but also to strengthen the immune system and prevent illness.
Yin and Yang describe two energies that complement each other. The concept assumes that everything in the world has an opposite pole. Earth and sky, day and night or heavy and light are just a few examples of this. In traditional Chinese medicine, the organs are also divided into active and passive. If yin and yang are not in harmony, life activity is also disturbed, which means that diseases can spread.
Cooling Foods in Ayurveda
The Indian concept is based on three constitutional types that every person has in different forms: Vata, Kapha and Pitta. If these are out of balance, it is important to restore the basic constitution. This can be achieved on the one hand through diet, but on the other hand also through behavior such as getting enough sleep or avoiding stress. The doshas are not only united in humans, but also in the environment. They can also be assigned to the seasons and occur alternately over the course of the year.
Summer is the Pitta season. In addition to water, Pitta also symbolizes the element of fire. In summer, it's important to cool down your diet and reduce excess pitta. It is better not to eat sour, salty, spicy and very oily foods. According to Ayurveda, sweet fruits such as melons or mangoes, coconut in any form, soy products, rice or quinoa can cool you from the inside.
Have you become curious and want to know which type you correspond to? You can find many very detailed tests online. However, if you would like to delve deeper into the topic, you should consult an Ayurvedic doctor. They also check your pulse, the coating on your tongue and many other characteristics and create an individual analysis.
Which foods you should avoid in the summer heat
Are schnitzel with fries an integral part of your diet? Ouch. Especially in summer, the combination of animal products and fried foods makes you sweat even more. Some dishes have exactly the opposite effect of cooling foods: they put a strain on your body and cause hot flashes.
You should definitely avoid meat and other animal products as they are difficult to digest. Some vegetables, including pumpkin, red cabbage, onions or leeks, are also not recommended in the warm season.
Hot spices such as pepper, chili or ginger really heat things up in winter - but should be avoided in summer. Cinnamon also has a warming effect and is used in Christmas pastries or drinks for good reason.
You should only consume caffeine and alcohol in moderation anyway. In summer you should be particularly cautious about this. The reason: The circulation is strongly stimulated, which in turn produces heat.
It's all about the preparation.
According to TCM and Ayurveda, not only the choice of food has an influence on body temperature, but also the preparation. If you cook your food in lots of water or blanch your vegetables, you can counteract the heat in your body. Grilling, roasting, deep-frying and long cooking have a warming effect.
The combination of foods also affects the amount of energy your body needs for digestion. You should avoid combinations such as milk with meat or milk with fruit.
Caution with ice-cold drinks?
We've learned for a long time: ice-cold drinks are refreshing at first, but they make us sweat even more afterwards. The reason: The drinks are heated by the body to body temperature. This process requires energy and therefore produces heat. The better solution in warm temperatures would therefore be warm tea or at least drinks at room temperature. Ayurveda generally advises against very cold or very hot drinks.
But do we really have to give up delicious infused water or an iced latte? Not necessarily! There are no studies showing that warm drinks are better for the body in summer. The opposite theory is that the drinks are warmed up by the warm environment in the body without the body having to actively exert itself. Now what is true? Until the question is scientifically clarified, we recommend: Listen to your body and choose the refreshment that is good for you.
Conclusion on cooling foods
The same applies here: Nature gives you the food to withstand the hot temperatures in summer with your diet. Although our list can give you a guide, your body intuitively knows what helps in summer: cucumbers, tomatoes, watermelon, citrus fruits, plant-based yogurt, mint, spinach, etc. are gifts from nature that keep you cool. In contrast, fatty and hot foods have a warming effect and require a lot of energy for further processing.
Sources:
Wiehn, Timothy (January 24, 2022): “Warming foods – Chinese nutrition”. In: SWR market check, https://www.swrfernsehen.de/marktcheck/gesundheit/waermende-lebensmittel-tcm-100.html, accessed on 01.07.2022
"Myth or truth: Should you drink warm drinks in the heat?" (June 4, 2021). In: Editorial Network Germany, https://www.rnd.de/gesundheit/warme-getraenke-helfen-bei-hitze-mythos-oder-wahrheit-T6QLO3H2QVMH4FC4UE6J7LFRRA.html, accessed on 01.07.2022
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