Enjoy Healthy Summer Foods

South Tabor Family Physicians LLP reminds our patients to enjoy the summer bounty of delicious and local healthy summer foods!

We are all fortunate to call the Pacific Northwest home. Don’t take for granted the wonderful local healthy options for summer time meals! Pick some local blueberries, blackberries or visit a farmers market to pick up fresh and nutrient rich veggies for dinner this weekend!

A few fun facts about some of our favorite summertime healthy foods:

Watermelon: “Staying hydrated keeps your memory sharp and your mood stable. It also helps keep your body cool (by sweating) during hot summer months. The good news is that you don’t just have to drink water. You can eat it, too: in addition to delivering skin-protecting lycopene, watermelon is 92 percent water (hence the name). Another boon? Research shows that eating foods that are full of water helps keep you satisfied on fewer calories. (Interestingly enough, drinking water alongside foods doesn’t have the same effect.) “

Blueberries: “Fresh blueberries straight from the berry patch are a special treat! Turns out the antioxidants in them may help ward off muscle fatigue by mopping up the additional free radicals that muscles produce during exercise, according to recent research out of New Zealand.”

Tomatoes: ” There’s no question that sunscreen should be your first line of defense against the blazing summer sun. But eating tomatoes could give you a little extra protection: consuming more lycopene-the carotenoid that makes tomatoes red-may protect your skin from sunburn. In one study, participants who were exposed to UV light had almost 50 percent less skin reddening after they ate 2 1/2 tablespoons of tomato paste (or drank about 1 2/3 cups of carrot juice daily), in addition to their regular diet, for 10 to 12 weeks. Supplements, however, weren’t as effective: in the same study, those who received a lycopene supplement or synthetic lycopene weren’t significantly protected against sunburn.”

[Source link for the fun facts, in the article titled “8 Healthy Summer Foods to Add to Your Diet”]