Summer Coolers

Beat the heat with these...

WITH THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE rising across the country and the sun beating down on us, we need to deal with summer bummers. Heat strokes and dehydration are common enough and reaching out for a quick roadside cooler or juice is tempting but can make us vulnerable to stomach bugs and diarrhoea.

However, summer isn’t all bad. Especially when you think of the joys of the swimming pool and lazy summer afternoons with fresh pickings of seasonal delicacies. From mint to wood apple, stock your kitchen this summer with healthy grocery items and breeze through the season! Here are a few ideas for summer coolers that are delicious and healthy.

Wood apple

Consume this fibrous fruit for its versatile goodness and great taste, Dr Suja Issac, a nutritionist and co-founder of SOUKYA advises. Commonly known as bael in Hindi, it is rich in fibre, calcium and vitamins A and B.

Wood apple can be eaten fresh or sun-dried, or made into marmalade. Its pulp is used to make sherbet, which is excellent for digestion.

The ripe pulp is good for the heart and brain, and is also used as a laxative. It is a quick-fix remedy for intestinal worms, so a couple of spoonfuls of ripe fruit for kids is a good idea. The raw fruit is used to treat infectious diarrhoea because of its anti-viral activity against certain pathogens.

Tannin in wood apple helps heal gastric and intestinal ulcers. Abundant in antioxidants and flavonoids; its phenolic compounds lend it anti-inflammatory properties. For best results, dilute with water.

Mint