First things first
Make sure you are drinking seven- eight glasses of water every day. It would be a good idea to use an earthen pot, as it helps remove impurities and keeps water cool. You could even use a copper matka —that too will keep the water cool.
Eat light
Don’t make your body work too hard to process what you eat. Avoid difficult-to-digest foods like meat, alcohol, coffee and processed foods, for these can increase inflammation in the body and weaken immunity. Incorporate fermented foods in your daily diet. Chaach (beaten yogurt diluted with water and seasoned with salt and roasted jeera) twice a day is the best way to stay cool.
Cooling foods
Try to include one summer vegetable or fruit in every meal and snack on these too. Veggies with high water content help cool the body and keep you hydrated: so don’t forget to include cucumber and bottle gourd in your meal plan.
Fruits are equally cooling. While you can always snack on them, try to have more of them in interesting ways: Make a dessert or a smoothie, cook with them (for example, a cold melon soup) or chop them into small pieces and add to water to make infused drinks.
Eat fatigue-busting foods
Focus consciously on including energy-giving foods to help prevent fatigue, which is so common in these hot months. You could, for instance, take three-four dates and boil them with a glass of milk or water. Eat the dates and drink the milk or water. This offers instant energy and effective hydration.
Source: Payal Sharma, senior dietitian and consultant nutritionist at Dharamshila Narayana Superspeciality Hospital, Delhi, and Debjani Banerjee, head of department, dietetics, PSRI Hospital, Delhi.