What should we in Summers? Superfoods for summer.
Posted By Sonika Negi
15 February 2022
Your local market is brimming over with health
There is nothing better than celebrating the supreme summer fruit with a big, bountiful salad spread. Combined with the enriching seasonal produce and zingy, punchy dressings, these mango-ficient salads are the best way to add a touch of freshness to your day and avoid the sweat beads.
Bell pepper mango salad
Say bye to summer heat with this bright and fresh, bell pepper mango salad with zesty lime vinaigrette. Best enjoyed with a side of barbecued chicken or fish, the recipe is a flavorsome combination of mango magic and a bold punchy dressing.
The craze for superfoods will never wane, but the more attention we pay it to it, the more we realise, our local fruit and vegetable markets are full of the superfoods that we should add to our diet. Local and seasonal produce is always better for you—your body is balanced and receives the right amount of nutrition. You’re probably already including these local superfoods in your daily diet. But do you know how they’re benefiting you?
The wood apple, or bel, might be one of the ugliest fruits on the block and impossible to eat as is, but once made into a juice, it’s delicious and almost magical for your digestive system. It helps to fight viral and bacterial infections, relieves a number of stomach ailments, and its tannins, flavonoids and coumarins help to reduce inflammation. And the sherbet made from the pulped fruit helps to keep you cool.
We can dedicate a library’s worth of books to the mango and it won’t be enough. Indians wait eagerly for summer to consume the fleshy and sweet fruit. Different regions produce a multitude of varieties, and although incredibly sweet and therefore a no-no for diabetics, it has a number of health benefits. It’s a good source of magnesium and potassium, which can help to maintain blood pressure, and it’s a powerful antioxidant.
Sure, everyone turns and runs the other way when karela makes an appearance, but summer’s most sought-after antidote is the bitter gourd. Ayurveda waxes eloquent about the multiple benefits of this bitter tasting vegetable. If you can’t stomach a juice (it lowers blood sugar levels), try frying it, although that writes off a few of its benefits. In its raw form, it has twice the amount of calcium found in spinach. It flushes out toxins, and in summer has the ability to keep our digestive system smooth and cool.
Indian food is full of leafy varieties cooked in a number of different ways. And a beloved one are amaranth leaves. The seeds have been considered superfoods by the West, ever since they discovered it was a staple diet among Aztecs and are gluten-free. But the leaves are beneficial too, helping with weight management, and full of iron and therefore great for anaemic people.
Replace your bajra with jowar in summer, because of the latter’s ability to keep your digestive system cool. There was a time when a large part of the north India ate more millets like jowar, ragi, and bajra instead of wheat. Jowar is full of vitamin B and minerals—both very beneficial for hair and skin. It’s also gluten-free and protein-rich. Make a pre-workout drink with the powder mixed in water with a piece of jaggery.
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