Diet tips to help you beat the heat

Lisa Akly, RDN

Prisma Health Heart Hospital

While you may know about how important it is to drink enough water during hot and humid weather, did you know there are other ways to adjust your diet that can help you stay healthy? Lisa Akly, RDN, offered diet tips while living through extreme heat that help you stay comfortable as summer simmers on.

How much fluid is enough?

“Hot and humid weather leads your body to sweat in order to cool itself down,” said Akly. “This means you’ll need more fluid to rehydrate than you would during other times of the year.”

Akly recommended drinking two to four glasses of cool, non-alcoholic fluids each hour during exercise as a general goal. Sports drinks like Gatorade or ‘electrolyte water’ can help you replace the salts lost through sweat or heavy exercise as well. You can check our comparison between water and sports drinks right here on Flourish.

“One way to tell if you’re drinking enough fluids is to check the color of your urine,” said Akly. “It should be light yellow in color. If it’s dark, you may need to drink more fluids or speak to your health care provider to figure out how much fluid is right for you based on your health history and level of activity.”

Beverage selections matter

You’ll want to be careful about how much you consume of liquids like alcohol or caffeinated drinks like coffee.

“Consuming large quantities of caffeine, like having four or more cups of coffee per day, can actually lead to water loss and contribute to dehydration,” said Akly. “When it comes to alcohol, even just one beer can cause you to go to the bathroom more often and lose fluids.”

Consume small, easy to digest meals

Akly recommended focusing on refreshing, light meals when dealing with the summer’s intense heat. Colorful salads and wraps can make it easy to get plenty of fruits, vegetables and lean proteins like grilled chicken or seafood without overheating your kitchen.

“Large meals, or those made with heavy, heated ingredients may be more difficult to digest,” said Akly. “Your body may need to increase your internal heat to aid in digestion, leading you to feel uncomfortable or sluggish.”

Fruits and veggies in season and at their best during the heat of summer include:

• Watermelon
• Cantaloupe
• Blueberries
• Strawberries
• Tomatoes
• Peaches
• Corn
• Yellow squash
• Broccoli
• Zucchini
• Cucumbers

Pack a safe picnic

According to the USDA, when packing food and beverages for outdoor picnics, consider separate coolers for perishable food items and cool beverages. The beverage cooler will probably be opened more frequently, so keeping your drinks packed separately will help your food items stay safely cold until you’re ready to cook.

“It’s also important to refrigerate all perishable food within two hours,” said Akly. “While it’s easy to get distracted and not think too much about the potato salad still sitting out on the picnic table, high outside temperatures can lead to serious foodborne illness when food that needs to stay cold sits out in the sun.”

Akly also noted that when temperatures are higher than 90 degrees, try to get food refrigerated within one hour to keep it safe to eat.

Quick and colorful pasta salad

Here’s a fast and easy recipe you can bring on a picnic or enjoy on a hot summer evening. Prepare it in the morning while the temps are cooler and eat it any time. Serves 8.

Ingredients

• 1 (12 ounce) package tri-color rotini pasta
• 1 green bell pepper chopped
• 1 red, orange or yellow bell pepper chopped
• 1 (15.5 ounce) can chick-peas (or other bean of choice) rinsed and drained
• 8-ounces small fresh mozzarella balls
• 1 (3.5 ounce) can sliced black olives (drained)
• ¾ cup Italian style vinaigrette dressing
• 1 teaspoon of Italian seasoning
• ½ teaspoon onion powder   

Directions

Boil a pot of lightly salted water. Cook rotini pasta until tender but still firm to the bite, about 8 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water until cool.

Combine all ingredients with the pasta until fully mixed.

Serve and enjoy!