Healthy Summer Diets

Fun in the sun and relaxation time, which can mean regular beach visits or lots of travel, can impact on positive eating habits. For example, increased temperatures and rising exhaustion levels mean your gut health can take a downward turn. Things to watch for:

• Dehydration: In Summer your body is consuming fluids at a higher rate, and you may be failing to keep up.
• ‘Holiday’ foods: If you’re traveling or treating yourself to summer indulgences, make space for some nutritious meals.
• Fatigue: Summer events could leave you low on energy, which ultimately impacts your gut health.

Let your gut have some holiday treats too:

• Remaining hydrated can be fun in Summer, with everything from flavoured ice blocks, iced tea including herbal, or iced coffee, chai, yoghurt and, as needed, sports drinks.
• Add some dark green veggies and some delicious Summer fruits to sustain fibre consumption.
• Supercharge your gut wellness by supporting those good bacteria with probiotic-rich food and supplements.

Improving our digestion is a great way to help regulate our entire body. Here are some ways to help improve digestion over the Summer months.

Chew food well
Many people underestimate the simple power of chewing food slowly and completely. Not only do you get fuller faster, but you also help your stomach acid dissolve and absorb the food easily. When we don’t chew well, we can get bloated and have other digestive complaints. As my mother used to say, “Your stomach doesn’t have teeth! Chew chew chew”.
Another handy moto is, “Chew your drink, and drink your food.” In other words, mixing plenty of saliva in with what we eat and drink is like preparing the gut in the best possible way to process what we consume – especially over Summer when we may move away from our usual eating habits.

Add probiotics
There are many reasons why our modern society does not have enough digestive enzymes and beneficial bacteria in our gut. A great way to resolve a lot of gut issues is by taking a quality probiotic. If you do not like taking tablets, eating sauerkraut, kimchi and other fermented foods is a great alternative.

Being Sporty
We all know the necessity to stay hydrated when undertaking any sport or energetic activity, not least to help protect from cramp. You can help keep your body moving throughout the day with 3 litres of warm, room temperature water.

Walk after meals
While on the subject of exercise, it is key to keeping your body balanced as well as detoxifying waste. A great tip is to walk for 15-30 minutes after a meal to help it digest more easily. And who can complain about easy extra exercise?