Summer season is ruling the house again. The rough wind, the heat waves, the sweat, and the irritation are back. Right now, our life is already hectic and stressful in the middle of a pandemic. We need to be extra careful in every step. And alongside that, we need to take special care of our well-being in this season.

Once the temperature rises outside, our body tries to find the most effective and instant solution- Cold beverages. That may give relief to your thirst for the moment, but your body still needs sufficient nutrients to function its best.

You see, Indian cuisines are crafted and curated by intelligent and experienced brains. It is perfect for our body, mind, and soul and so compatible according to our tropical seasons.

Whenever I have searched for any balanced diet on the internet, many things have popped up. But I have found very few of them sustainable. They are not easily accessible, super expensive, and they do not go very well with the kind of weather condition we have.

Today, we are talking about some Superfoods that are perfect for Summer. They are available anywhere, anytime. And they will help you keep your internal body calm, protected, healthy, and summer-ready.

Take a sip in some chilled lemon honey water and let’s get started.

1. Tamarind:

Tamarind pulp is extensively used in South Asian cuisines. Its health benefits are worth mentioning. It has Polyphenols that have antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties. These can protect your body from heart diseases, cancer, and diabetes. Tamarind extract can help lowering blood sugar levels, hypertension, and reverse fatty liver disease.

It also has antiviral, antibacterial properties. It is full of nutrients, such as Potassium, Magnesium, Vitamin B1, Vitamin B3, Phosphorus, Iron. 

It is excellent for our digestive system. Stomach and digestion-related ailments are common in Summer. Tamarind helps to combat digestive issues like abdominal pain, diarrhea, and constipation. 

It can heal wounds, calm down swelling, and helps to fight certain parasitic and bacterial infections.

How to use Tamarind as a Summer Superfood

·  Prepare soupy curry using Tamarind pulp.

Soak Tamarind pulp (available in the market) in lukewarm water for half an hour. Squeeze out all the extracts, strain them, and use them while making a light soupy curry. You can use fish or vegetables in the curry. Don’t use excessive spices or oil. Temper the soup with just one teaspoon of oil, mustard seeds or panch phoron, and whole green chili/red chili. Use a little bit of salt and turmeric powder. Balance the taste by adding 1 tsp Sugar (optional). Simmer it for 10 minutes. And that’s all. Enjoy it in your summer lunch.

•       You can have tamarind rice for a tasty, healthy, and light meal.
•       Savor Tamarind Chutney as a delicious side dish.

2. Raw Mango:

Raw Mango aka Kachchi Kairi (in Hindi) is a must-have superfood in Summer. This fruit has tons of nutrients. It is full of Vitamin A, Vitamin E, Vitamin C, Calcium, Magnesium, and more. 

Raw Mango may cure stomach disorders such as constipation, bloating, indigestion, and diarrhea. 

The nutrients in it help to balance the body’s hormonal system. 

It detoxifies the liver, cleanses all the toxins from the body. It prevents dehydration and also improves cardiovascular health.

How to use Raw Mango as a Summer Superfood:

•       Prepare Aam Panna to protect your body from heat stroke
•       Raw mango Chutney as a side dish
•       Soupy Raw Mango Chutney aka Kancha Aamer Jhol, mostly prepared in Bengali cuisine (a personal favorite)
•       Aam Dal (Dal or Lentils using Raw Mango)
•       Raw Mango Rice, a healthy and light dish for your taste buds which is perfect for Summer 

3. Curd:

This Superfood is a perfect digestion and immunity booster during the Summer. Curd is full of Good Bacteria that are excellent for our guts. It is also a great probiotic which helps to eliminate the bad bacteria in our digestive system. It soothes the inflammation and treats stomach upset. 

Being an immunity booster, the goodness in Curd protects us from catching cold and viral infections. Curd is packed in Calcium and Phosphorus and good for our bones. It is a good substitute for milk, so if you can’t have milk due to some health condition or other reasons, you are not missing out on the nutrients. 

Apart from this, Curd is also beneficial for heart diseases and great for women’s vaginal health.

Are you suffering from chronic infections down there? You must include curd in your everyday diet.

Avoid flavored yogurt if you can. Have homemade sour curd or preservative-free curd from the market instead every single day.

How to use Curd as a Summer Superfood:

•       Have one bowl of Curd after your meal
•       Prepare Buttermilk or lassi
•       Curd rice
•       Have it as Raita (vegetable salad with curd) in your side dish
•       Use it in a smoothie or in your breakfast bowl 

5. Coconut Water:

Nothing can beat the health benefits of Tender Coconut Water. Moreover, it tastes delicious too. Coconut water is full of antioxidants that protect your cells from damage. It has a bucket full of nutrients- Vitamin C, Magnesium, Manganese, Potassium, Sodium, and so on. You name it. 

Having a glass of Coconut Water everyday can fulfill many of your vitamin and mineral deficits. It can help reducing blood sugar levels in people with type 2 diabetes and prediabetes. 

It also has cholesterol-lowering properties that are beneficial in preventing heart diseases. 

Coconut water is a good source of Electrolytes in Summer, especially if you are out in the sun or after finishing a solid workout. It keeps you hydrated and lowers your blood pressure level. It can also prevent having kidney stones.

How to use Coconut Water as a Summer Superfood:

•       Have a glass of Coconut Water every day without adding any sugar.
•       Please avoid taking packaged Coconut Water. It is not the ideal thing for your health, no matter what the ingredients list says.

6. Watermelon:

Do you know that Watermelon is 92% water only? Surprised!!! Yes, that’s why this Superfood is a must-have to keep ourselves hydrated in the summers. 

Watermelon is one of the lowest-calorie fruits and has Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Potassium, Magnesium, Lycopene, Vitamins B1, B5, and B6, and other good things. 

It helps in digestion, relieves muscle soreness, treats inflammation, and keeps your heart healthy. 

It also helps to control heartburn during pregnancy. Enjoy this in the Summer and safeguard your body from heatstroke.

How to use Watermelon as a Summer Superfood:

•     Put the fruit in the refrigerator, slice it up and enjoy during summers
•   Prepare refreshing watermelon juice with mint and lime
•     Have it in a fruit bowl 

7. Amla/ Indian Gooseberry:

Amla aka Indian Gooseberry is a rich source of Vitamin C. It also has Vitamin E, Vitamin A, Iron, Calcium, Polyphenols, Alkaloids, and Flavonoids. 

It is antibacterial and anti-inflammatory. It prevents cancer, it is amazing for your heart, and it controls diabetes. 

It helps in digestion and boosts immunity. It has powerful antioxidants and is a natural blood purifier. 

Amla cools down your body in the Summer and helps detoxify your body. 

How to use Amla as a Summer Superfood:

•    Prepare Amla Chutney
•    Slice it up, dry it in the sun with some salt. Store in a container and have it after meals to aid in digestion.
• ·Prepare Amla juice 

*Remember, no matter how beneficial something is for your health, eat them within limits. DO NOT GO OVERBOARD. If you are not 100% sure about anything or have any doubt, do not hesitate to ask an expert.

I am not a medical expert. I have been following a few diet routines for a long time for my family’s well-being. This list is one of them. After consulting our doctor, we find it compatible according to our health & lifestyle.

**If you are pregnant, or breastfeeding, or have some medical conditions, please ask your doctor before using anything, be it a food item or cosmetics.

It is of utmost importance to have a balanced diet in your daily life and maintain a healthy lifestyle. So, include fresh vegetables, fruits and nuts, drink 8 to 10 glasses of water every day. Sleep properly. Cut back your alcohol consumption and include homemade chilled juices and smoothies instead. Exercise daily, let go of your stress as much as possible and give yourself a mental detox by keeping your gadgets aside for some time.

Take Care, everyone…

Cheers!!!

Happy Living…

The sweet summer is here and so is the heat which is not at all sweet, ehh! Summer has its charms and I love it. But at the same time, it is so difficult to manage my sensitive combination skin in this season. Sometimes my skin gets dried and irritated because of the strong heatwave, and other times the acne and pimples take over to add on. Uffff!

But this summer, it’s gonna be a different story. Why? Because I have found Deyga Organics, an Indian Organic Skincare brand, who has come up with their beautiful Clear Skin Combo. Deyga kindly has sent me two of their best-selling products, a gorgeous Charcoal Bath Bar and a very soothing Aloe Vera gel and I am all smiles with these two products as the timing and the season are just perrrrrfect 😉.

Deyga crafts and curates its products with love. The products are 100% Pure, Cruelty-free, and Natural. The brand creates each of its products following the age-old traditional recipes.

According to the brand, “Our Ingredients are 100% Natural. Natural ingredients originate from nature and ONLY undergo chemical changes due to biological processes such as fermentation, distillation, and cold processing… OUR PRODUCTS DO NOT CONTAIN SLS, SLES, Parabens, MEA, DEA, TEA, Petrolatum, Phthalates, Ethoxylates, and Silicones.”

Deyga’s Aloe Vera Gel :

My skincare is incomplete without using Aloe Vera. I love it to the core, especially in the Summer. I have been using Deyga’s Aloe Vera Gel for 2 weeks now. And I am simply loving it. I love the fact that this gel is completely fragrance-free, supercooling, and non-greasy. 

It is a beautiful, translucent Aloe Vera Gel. 

It is so healing for my hormonal acne and pimples and calming for the heat rashes.

This gel has a self-life of 6 months.

 Deyga uses Aloe Barbadensis (Cold Pressed) Aloe Vera Extract, Aloe Hydrosol, and Geogard ECT (Certified natural preservative) in it. 

You can feel this gel is au-natural when you use it.

I admire the fact that the brand is open in declaring its ingredients to its customers. Respect!

It is priced at INR 350 for 100 gm/ 3.53 fl oz. You can buy this gel from here.

Deyga’s Charcoal Bath Bar:

Well…this is the very first time that I am using Charcoal Bath Bar that too on my face. I have used Charcoal Scrub and Face pack before, and I have loved both of them. But this time, I won’t deny it, I was damn scared to use the soap bar on my face for the first time. After patch-testing it, when I used it, ohhhh! I was blown away. 

I am so obsessed with this soap, I can't tell you in words.

I must say, it is one of the most wonderful skincare products I have ever used.

After a sweaty workout, when I use this bath bar, it gives me a very satisfying experience. 

You see, when you get that ‘squeaky clean feeling’ after washing your face, that’s a blessing, right! My skin (or is it me?) literally floats like a cloud. 😊

This bath bar is:

• Cold Pressed
• Natural
• Vegan
• Paraben-free 
• Fragrance-free

This soap is made of Activated Charcoal Powder, Olive Oil, Castor Oil, Tea Tree Essential Oil, Unrefined Shea Butter, and Extra Virgin Coconut Oil. 

It is free from any Artificial thickeners.

I couldn’t be happier because this came into my life when I needed it the most. My hormonal acne was all over the place and I was desperate to get a solution. Yes, this soap makes your skin dry, but if you apply Aloe Vera Gel or any moisturizer afterwards, then you are sorted. 

This is a Charcoal bath Bar. Its job is to clean your skin and throw out all the gunk from its core. And it does that just perfectly.

It is very effective in clearing out active acne and pimples. It unclogs your pores and clears out the blackheads like a dream. 

You can see a visible difference from the first few uses. I use it only on my face as my body skin is dry. 

Do try it on your body too if you have body acne, it’ll definitely help. 

I have a good feeling that it may even prevent your skin from breaking out. But that’s for the future to decide, I can’t comment on that right now. I must say if you have normal to oily or combination skin and you are suffering from acne or pimple, give it a try. Use it alongside the Aloe Vera Gel, your skin will thank you for sure.

One Charcoal Bath Bar is priced at INR 410. You can buy it from here.

You can buy the Clear Clean Combo here.

I feel these two products complement each other so much. And I am loving them both.  

Deyga Organics has a wide range of Skincare and Haircare products. I am eyeing their Rose & Mulethi Skin Brightening Face pack and also their Turmeric Healing Face pack right now. They seem very tempting.

Deyga Organics ships their products internationally. Isn't that great! Head over to their website to find out more about them.

** Please note that I don't get to earn a single penny if you buy any of the products from the brand. All my reviews are 100% my honest opinion- tried, tested, and very much loved 😊.

** Please use any cosmetic product after knowing about them and at your own risk. Consult medical professionals if needed. The blog or the author is not responsible for any after-effects. And yes, do not forget to do a patch test before using any new product.

Cheers!!!

Happy Living…