Summer time, and the living is easy, right? Beautiful weather, long weekends, good friends and great food. But there are plenty of anxieties that come with the summer months, too. Hot weather means bathing suit season has once again returned to scare you away from the sweets, and the warm weather means you would love to have the energy to get outdoors and get some fresh air and exercise.
To that end, a great way to begin your summer is with a raw food detox diet. Now, many people will see the words “detox” and “diet” and think oh great, there goes any fun I was planning on having this summer. But with a proper raw food detox diet, you will not have to suffer through terrible foods just to give your body a healthy flush. The key to a good detox diet is not to deprive and starve, but to nourish and replenish.
One of the best things to do with any detox system is to increase the amount of water that you are drinking. On hot sunny days, that can be very easy to accomplish. But if you get bored of drinking simple and flavorless water, there are things you can do to keep it raw, make it delicious and avoid additional sugars. For a great morning drink, a simple wedge of lime or lemon in your glass can help to make your water more interesting. During the afternoon, a slice of cucumber in your water glass can add variety and taste. And in the early evenings, you can relax on the back porch with a glass of mint-infused water or a sun-brewed iced green tea.
Another great way to increase your hydration levels is to indulge in fruits that have high water content. A slice of watermelon can curb your hunger and keep you refreshed. Other options can include plump summer strawberries, cantaloupe and other melons.
When it comes to meal times, the summer heat can help to keep you within the confines of your raw food detox diet. For many people, a good dose of hot weather is effective in curbing the appetite. Get out in the warm weather as much as you can, and you may find that you are less hungry when meal time rolls around.
But that doesn’t mean you should limit yourself to eating less if you are hungry. There are plenty of great, filling options for summer meals that fit within the definition of a summer detox raw food diet. From healthy and wonderfully green salads to cool and refreshing cold raw soups, eating a raw food diet will definitely help to keep you healthy all summer long. The best salad for this sort of diet would have a big leafy green like kale for fibre, a minimal amount of salad dressing, and a handful of blueberries for their antioxidant properties. For raw summer soups, try a cold watermelon soup for the added hydration and light weight.
