Summer Eating

"And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer" - F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

Summer is a time of growth and activity.  It is a time to take action and follow through with the positive changes we started setting up in the Spring. We make big changes to our lifestyle in the summer by spending more time outside, becoming more physically active, we may even become more social. With all of the lifestyles shifts we make, our eating patterns must also shift to provide us with the right amount of fuel and energy to get through the longer and busier days of summer.

Summer brings an abundance of fruits, vegetables, and herbs. Our options are limitless and we are able to choose from many highly nutritious and delicious foods. This is a time where we are able to have a greater variation in our diets and test out new recipes. The summer heat requires us to eat a lighter, fresher diet high in water content, sticking to mainly raw meals and salads. During this time of year, heavy proteins and cooked fats are best reduced to allow for easy digestion and to use the lighter foods we eat for fuel.

If summer is a time where you really feel the motivation to make changes in your eating habits, try to follow this guideline I found in Elson M. Haas's book "Staying Healthy With Nutrition". I have found it extremely useful and simple to follow. It is a guideline that should be used throughout the year, but summer is an especially good time to make these changes due to the variation of seasonal foods that
are available to us.

Suggested Dietary Changes

Decrease	Increase
Calories, saturated fats, red meats, dairy foods, refined sugars, refined flour, salt, processed foods, soda pop	Fresh vegetables, fresh fruits, sprouts, drinking water, complex carbohydrates, fiber, whole grains, legumes, vegetable oils