Dr. Maya Rozman Shares Healthy Summer Meal Tips to Beat the Heat

As temperatures rise, Dr. Maya Rozman offers practical advice on adjusting meals to help the body cope with the heat. She recommends opting for cooler or lukewarm foods rather than hot meals, suggesting salads with eggs or tuna, yogurt with fruit, cold soups, or pre-prepared legumes and vegetables. Smaller, balanced meals are preferable to heavy, fatty dishes that increase body heat through digestion.

Rozman emphasizes that a meal does not have to be cooked to be complete; sandwiches with whole grain bread and protein sources like chicken breast, tuna, eggs, cheese, or tofu combined with vegetables can provide necessary nutrients. She also highlights the importance of incorporating water-rich foods such as watermelon, melon, peaches, nectarines, oranges, cucumbers, tomatoes, and lettuce to aid hydration, though these should not replace drinking fluids.

For a refreshing snack alternative to ice cream, frozen fruits like banana slices, grapes, mango, berries, or melon cubes can be enjoyed, including homemade fruit and yogurt ice cream. Protein remains essential even in summer meals, with options like yogurt, cottage cheese, eggs, tuna, tofu, legumes, or properly stored cold chicken.

Regarding beverages, Rozman advises drinking water, soda water, unsweetened iced tea, or water infused with mint and fruit slices, while cautioning against sugary drinks like sweetened iced coffee, juices, and shakes that can add excessive calories. She also warns against high-salt foods that increase thirst, noting that electrolyte drinks or added salt are generally unnecessary unless after prolonged sweating or under medical advice.