Sweltering heat, non-stop sweat, sweeping heat wave; all that drawing up your entire body energy? You would feel pretty pleased to quench your thirst with a glass of cool water. But, is that enough for you? Is it enough to replenish your lost energy and hydration? Is it fulfilling to give you lost vitality? Well, No.
Being dried-up in the summer heat would desperately make you vouch for a refreshing cool drink. Just a cool glass of water or plain ice tea or such wouldn’t be benefitting. You need the pinch of re-vitalizing element added to your drink, which you can find right in your kitchen.
Yes, common spices available in your home have those properties to quench your thirst and beat the heat. So, what are you waiting for? Read on to know what you can add up in your morning tea, or afternoon drink or your evening beverage and be free from the scorching heat affects..
- Turmeric
Summer, winter, spring, autumn, whatever the season is, turmeric is your health-booster. Not only to make food. It is your friendly beverage-boost for summer time also. Turmeric helps to fight of inflammation, keeps your skin hydrated, purifies blood and much more additional benefits. Buy organic turmeric online and add it to your morning or evening masala chai, having an earthy flavour essence to cool down in the best way.
- Green Cardamom
Commonly known as ‘chhoti elaichi’, this one is a favourite for many, many people, who just love to have its taste and aroma with their every cup of tea. Now, in the summer time, it can be a must-have for you. It helps to relieve the stomach acidity and reduces stomach cramps as well.
- Mint Leaves
More popular as a mouth freshening agent, it also helps has anti-inflammation properties. Adding it to your summer beverages like sugarcane juice, the lip-smacking aam-panna drink, the Punjab-staple and favourite Lassi, easy-to-make lemonade at your home, watermelon juice, will help you refresh yourself in a soothing way. The options are endless, as mint can be an easy to add spice to a number of summer drink recipe.
- Jeera
Jeera or cumin is also another magical spice that I usually poresent in all households, throughout the India. It is used in plentiful of ways, from preparing meals, as an addition to recipes and much more. Like mint leaves, use of jeera is also limited to only your imagination. Health benefits of cumin seeds are abundant – it promotes digestion, has high anti-inflammation property, is rich in iron, is antioxidant, reduces diabetes, improves blood flow, and much more.
With so much to offer, it is obvious that cumin seeds can boost recovering the lost compounds to heat. Add jeera to your aam panna, buttermilk or chhaas (popular as an afternoon beverage with many), lassi and much more. And who can afford to not swear-by the lip-smacking jaljeera, a much-loved drink to endure the summer heat relentlessly with the addition of electrolytes, bringing the cooling, rehydrating and health-befitting properties of jeera to the fore. Works wonders to assist your digesting system.
- Fennel Seeds / Saunf
Commonly known as saunf across Indian households, this one is a common after-food dessert, in combination with sugar. But why? Cause it helps to fight of the inflation, assist in digestion and soothe the stomach. Fennel seeds are proven to boost the natural cooling process of the body, helps in overcoming bloating, and reduce constipation chances. With the kind of naturally enhancing cooling effect it has on the body, no doubt, it acts as the perfect element to add to your summer drink.
- Thyme
Surprised to see this herb or spice in this list, as it often is relegated to winter dishes because of its body-warming characteristic. Well, basically, this herb helps in the natural and health-enhancing properties of the body, which in turn are essential for your body. Whether it’s a simple mocktail or even a cocktail, improving flavour, aroma or essence as well as health-boosting nature of the drink can be triggered with this super herb. But ensure, that you add this in a limited quantity only for your summer drink, as your garnish.
While all the above fits the bill as spices available in your home, there is one more food ingredient that can’t be ignored when talking about boosting your summer drink effects:
Honey
You may have been thinking where this magical component was, in this list. Well, here it is. Honey is definitely the queen of super-foods, as it renders so much of benefits – boosting immunity to fighting inflation, to much more. It can be added to any sweetened honey drink, like your simmer refreshing ice tea, lassi and so.
So, what summer drink you prefer? Do you usually add a pinch of spices or yet to take up this habit? If not, you better start doing his now.
