I have heard that certain foods, like watermelon and cucumbers, actually have a cooling effect on the body. Now that we are in this heat wave, I was thinking it might be nice to know what other foods do the same... also, which have a heating effect (I have heard that peppers will heat your body up?) so I know what to avoid. I'm not sure how much truth there is in food affecting body temperature... but it never hurts to try! :)
Any 'cool food' recipes (main, side, or dessert!) would be awesome as well!!! :)
Probably foods that have a high water content will keep you hydrated.
http://greeneggsandmoms.com/foods-that-cool-the-body-duri...
I like salads in the summer, pasta salad, chicken salad, tuna salad, etc.
google "cool foods for a hot summer day" there's a lot of links with good suggestions.
BLT's usually go over pretty well :)
well technically eating anything can raise your body temperature because your body is working to digest. Anytime your body works it makes heat.
now as for foods, I freeze grapes and blueberries coated with coolaid powder.
the kids LOVE those as a treat.
My daughter and I just got back from a very nice resort in South Beach, Miami and every afternoon at a certain time, the staff would bring frozen seddless red grapes to everyone at the pool.
They were served in chilled martini glasses with a sugar coated rim and the grapes had a touch of sugar sprinkled on them.
They were very yummy!
My daughter has always frozen her grapes at home and they are quite refreshing! She also likes to freeze her yogurt and snack on it as well.
We love fresh tomatoes and we make caprese salad a lot. Take a large slice of tomato, put a slice of mozzarella cheese on top, and we use Italian olives from the Olive bar. Drizzle with Balsamic italian dressing OR, light Olive oil and Balsamic vinegar. Tasty!
Watermelon and lettuce have high water content. They will help keep you hydrated when it is very hot out.
I don't think spicy foods raise your temperature because if you look at countries in very warm climates they eat a lot of very spicy foods including candy (Mexico, South America, Thailand, etc.). I often wonder if it helps them stay cooler.
High water content foods keep you hydrated.
What helps make cool food 'cool' is you don't heat up the house by needing to cook them.
But spicy foods will help you sweat (which is your bodies way of cooling off).
gazpacho, and other cold soups including chilled asparagus, carrot ginger.
canteloupe and proscutto
cuccumber and yogurt with garlic, salt, pepper and mint.
raw peppers and hummus
chilled pasta salad.
chilled wild rice salad.
cold cut sandwiches
cold quesadillas with cold toppings
sorbet
fruit from the ice box
chocolate dipped bananas
popsicles
ice water with cuccumber and mint
this one might not make much sense at first, but pickles. The high salt content drives up your thirst and encourages you to drink oodles of water, and water rich fruit.
happy summer.
