We naturally crave foods according to the season – comforting soups in the winter, sprouts and salads as spring starts to bloom, and – who are we kidding – ice cream in the summer! Our bodies are always seeking balance, so it makes sense that we’d crave foods to counteract the effect of the weather.
Ayurvedic practitioners, masters of seasonal eating, have these recommendations for eating cooling, summer food:
- Favor foods that are cool and liquid. Minimize foods that are hot.
- Favor foods that are sweet, bitter or astringent. Minimize foods that create heat (spicy, salty or sour).
- Light proteins are best (quinoa, almonds, spinach, etc.)
- Coriander, mint, cardamom, and fennel are nice summer spices.
- Stick with unrefined sweeteners, but minimize honey and molasses.
Since we naturally crave more raw foods in the summer, try some of these uber-cooling raw food recipes.
Takeyah’s Rockin’ Raw Kale Salad
Strawberry Banana “Green” Smoothie
What’s your favorite cooling food? Do you have a recipe that you love to make during the summer?
Looking for a way to reconnect? Need some time away to cultivate your tools and put them into action at home? Join us for a Yoga & Wellness Retreat in Jamaica on September 2 – 6, 2011. There are still some spots left. Reserve your spot today!
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Takeyah A. Young, Speaker, Certified Holistic Health Coach and Certified Yoga Instructor, specializes in helping motivated, successful women leaders create vitality in and bring balance back to their lives.
The information in this article is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
