So, what should we be consuming more of during the summer?

Get leafy greens!

Leafy green vegetables are a great addition to your regular salads and even your juices/smoothies. These leafy greens include things like kale & spinach, which are quite popular choices, along with other dark greens like watercress and parsley.

These greens are high in chlorophyll, which is great for blood building and healing the body. They also include important nutrients such as iron, amino acids, calcium and magnesium.

Go nuts!

Nuts are great for helping to reduce blood pressure, and improving blood flow. They contain healthy fats, magnesium and can also be a good source of protein. Almonds and Walnuts are a healthy heart nut and research has discovered that almonds  may help to reduce the risk of heart disease.

Nuts can be great as a snack, but obviously need to be measured out as there are still a lot of calories in just a small handful of nuts. You can also add some nuts for some extra crunch in salads too, something which I have been doing recently!

Cleansing foods

The body requires foods with dieruretic properties, such as asparagus, celery, cabbage, beets, cucumbers and fennel. Asparagus contains amino acids that help the kidney to excrete toxic waste and oxalis acid. They also help to breakdown fat. Celery and cucumber also have high water content.

Luscious berries

Who doesn't love berries? There is a plethora of them to choose from; raspberries, strawberries, cherries, blueberries and cranberries. They're incredibly delicious and can be enjoyed as part of breakfast as a topping for oatmeal and in smoothies and juices. Some berries can also be enjoyed with salads too such as strawerries!

Strawberries are a classic for summer and they have numerous health properties! They have a high flavonoid content which benefits heart health and they are the richest source of vitamin C which is a great immune system booster.

Hydrate

Last but certainly not least and actually the most important to remember is to hydrate! The body needs to take in more water during the summer months due to the fluids that are lost through perspiration in the heat and higher temps! 

I've totally ramped up my water intake whilst I've been on holiday. In fact it's the only thing I have been drinking during the day. I have a glass in the morning and with every meal as well as whilst I'm sat by the pool.

Filtered and pure water is always recommended! Nowadays, tap water can be contaminated with chlorine, heavy metals and synthetic extroversion as well as other toxins.

These are just a few of the recommendations made for improving health and well being during the summer months. I'm sure there are many other things that you can also do too.

Most if not all of the above are usually included during my week. There's something incredibly refreshing about greens, salads, berries and smoothies that just make me feel better all round and let's face it.. In the hot days during the summer, we sometimes don't want to be having a hot meal and I know I would much rather have a delicious salad with nutrient dense foods to make them up.

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