Cool your body from the inside – with these 10 foods

When it’s hot, we need to cool down – even when eating. In addition to drinking enough water, you can also cool your body from the inside in summer with the right types of fruit and vegetables.

It’s not just jumping into a lake that cools you down on hot days: You can also cool your body from the inside with certain foods. While circulation-stimulating substances such as alcohol, caffeine or hearty foods encourage sweating, watermelon, basil and the like provide refreshment and do not put a strain on the circulation or digestion. In summer, these foods, along with cooling clothing and the right drinking behavior in hot weather, can provide the desired cooling.

Cool your body from the inside: These herbs and spices will help

They not only spice up many dishes, but also ensure that you stay cool and feel good when it is hot. The following herbs and spices will help you through midsummer:

• Mint is particularly popular in oriental cuisine. In Morocco, for example, peppermint tea is drunk when it is very hot. No wonder, after all, thanks to the menthol it contains, mint keeps the body nice and cool from the inside. You can not only enrich refreshing drinks with mint, but also, for example, hummus, dips or tabbouleh salad.

• Basil is used as a decoration for salads, pasta and pizza. In addition, basil can also remove heat from the body – this is said to be due to essential oils such as cineole and camphor. You can use basil to make pesto, ice cream or lemonade, for example.

• Sage not only helps against a sore throat, but also cools the body from the inside. Sage tea is even said to prevent excessive sweating. You can use the medicinal herb to make delicious sage butter or cook gnocchi with sage.

• Because of its cooling effect, cardamom is often used as a balance to particularly spicy foods or as a remedy for fever. While cardamom is used as a speculoos spice in winter, you can use it to prepare the Ayurvedic dish kitchari or make a delicious chai latte in the summer months.

• Like cardamom, coriander is also used in Ayurvedic cuisine to cool the body from within. With coriander you can refine pesto, dips or a spicy carrot salad.

Fruits and vegetables that cool the body from the inside

In summer, fruit and vegetables should not be missing from the menu. And with good reason, because the following varieties in particular cool us from the inside because of their high water content:

• Watermelons are the epitome of mid and late summer. They taste refreshing, provide a lot of water and are therefore the perfect snack for hot temperatures. Together with mint or basil, you can use watermelon in a delicious salad or use it in desserts or ice cream.

• Cucumbers and tomatoes are not heavy on the stomach and contain a lot of water, making them the perfect food on a hot day. For example, you can use these vegetables to prepare the Indian Kachumber salad in summer, which also contains cooling coriander.

• Citrus fruits such as lemon, orange or grapefruit also provide a culinary refreshment thanks to their refreshing taste and high water content. However, since citrus fruits do not grow here and have traveled long distances, they should not be on your menu too often. Also make sure to use organic citrus fruits. In summer, you can cool off with grapefruit juice, fennel and orange salad, and fruit salad.
• Thanks to its bitter substances, spinach ensures that your body can regulate heat better. In hot temperatures you can eat it as a salad or smoothie.

If you combine these foods with each other, the cooling effect on your body increases.

Read more on Techzle\.com:

• Mulberry cake with yoghurt: A summery recipe
• 7 things not to do when it’s hot
• Heat wave: Which foods should be in the fridge now