By TreeLiving
Summer is the season of fresh fruits and crisp salads, tender young vegetables and all of nature’s bounty. Not only is fresh produce at its best but a lot of seasonal items are also at their cheapest. Summer is the time when we wear the least and want to look our best. Healthy eating this summer helps lose the pounds (or at least stop gaining them) and will help you feel invigorated.
It seems so obvious that to eat healthy means to feel better all around. Nutritional research is revealing just how important our diet is, not only in weight control but for long term health and longevity benefits. If you eat healthy food you’re also helping to boost your immune system so you’re less vulnerable to illness. It’s not only things like viral infections that healthy eating this summer can protect you against, but also serious conditions like heart disease and cancer.
We all know about the health promoting properties of leafy, green vegetables that are rich in all sorts of vitamins, as well as antioxidants. These mop up the dangerous free radicals that age our skin on the outside but also affect all our cells and internal organs. Broccoli has long been known as a great health food because it contains diindolylmethane (DIM), which has anti-viral, anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. Trials of Brussels sprouts have also shown it to be a potentially powerful anti-cancer food, owing to a compound called sulforaphane.
Salads are a summer standby. They’re quick to make, and because the ingredients are raw or very lightly cooked, the vitamins are intact. For people who think salads are like rabbit food, it’s time to think again. Delicious and innovative salad recipes are easy to find. Classics like the French salad Niçoise (vegetables, tuna and anchovies) or the American Waldorf salad (apples, celery and walnuts) are famous for a reason – they’re healthy and taste fantastic.
New recipes, such as warm salads, are also great summer palate pleasers that you can make in minutes.
On a summer evening there’s nothing like an al fresco meal, with a good bottle of crisp white wine and a fresh fruity dessert. A lot of us neglect our diets a bit during cold, miserable winters, giving in to more stodgy and fatty comfort foods than are not that good for us. Summer is the time to get back to healthy eating with the best that nature can provide.
If you want to eat healthy and have fantastic meals this summer, the keyword is ‘fresh’. Get down to your local farmer’s market and buy fruits and veggies that are freshly harvested and full of flavor. It’s good for your carbon footprint as well as your waistline. Summer is the time to pep up your diet and your wellbeing with great food that will lift your mood and boost your health – guaranteed.