Summer Coolers

The concept of a ‘cooling food’ originated in traditional Chinese medicine and Ayurveda. These ancient sciences are based on the idea that every food has a thermal effect on the body. What you eat can be used to keep you healthy by creating a cooling, neutral, or warming effect on the body.

Though many fruits and veggies are considered to be cooling foods. Some will actually heat you up, like fennel, raspberries, cherries, pumpkin, peaches, mango, leeks, red cabbage, and onion. Spicy foods like chili, pepper, ginger, and cinnamon will also turn up the heat in your body.

Animal-based food products tend to take longer for our bodies to digest, and they generate more heat for the same reason. Stick to barbecuing vegetables on especially hot days.

And even though iced coffee and cold beer may feel like they’re cooling you down as you drink them, that’s not necessarily the case. In fact, alcohol and coffee won’t quench your thirst and are thought to have strong heating effects within the body.

When in doubt, stick to eating seasonally to guarantee your body is getting what it needs. During the summer, many refreshing foods also happen to be in season. If you look closely at the fruits and vegetables that are available in tropical areas, you’ll notice that many of them have a cooling effect.

On the other hand, warming foods like pumpkin and red cabbage are in season in fall and winter. Warming spices like ginger, cloves, and cinnamon are also frequently recommended in cozy, cold weather recipes.

Mint & Lime Cooler Photo by Melissa Walker Horn on Unsplash

Cherries Photo by Anna Wlodarczyk on Unsplash