Cool Foods For Hot Weather

Too sweltering to eat? Think again. From staying hydrated to relieving allergies, the right diet is key to enjoying summer pleasures. Behold, your seasonal survival manual.

- Joanna Powell

It's a blistering day and you’re not just hot—you’re molten. Slow. Stupid. Gummy to the core. With record-breaking temperatures being the new normal, it’s time to take a look at the role diet can play in keeping us energized and healthy, especially when it’s hot as blue blazes outside.

“The human body is pretty good at maintaining body temperature in cold weather, but it does not do so well in very hot weather,” says Bethesda, MD-based physician Matthew Mintz, MD, FACP. “This means that when the weather gets hot, we need to pay some attention to what we are putting in our bodies.”

When we get overheated, blood flow is diverted to the skin, which increases sweating, the body’s best way of regulating the hypothalamus, the thermostat in our brains, explains Dr. Mintz. “When this happens, other functions, such as digestion, generally slow down.” That’s why we don’t feel as hungry as usual during a heat blast, or sometimes suffer GI distress when we do eat.

“But excessive sweating can cause you to become dehydrated very quickly, which can lead to nausea, constipation, dizziness, headaches and more severe symptoms such as heat exhaustion and heat stroke, if left unchecked,” notes Brooke Alpert, MS, RD, founder of B Nutritious in NYC. “Our diet—both food as well as beverages—plays an extremely important role in keeping us properly hydrated and healthy.”

Believe it or not, downing ice-cold drinks, skipping meals or simply “eating light”—that longheld rule of thumb for summer noshing—isn’t the best course of action. And a smart seasonal-eating strategy will also include foods that are effective at reducing allergy symptoms, beating bloat and even protecting against sunburn. Here, the best food choices for this summer.

"CHEW" YOUR WATER