To ensure that the body receives sufficient water and nutritional balance, it is recommended to eat local seasonal fruits to stay active and fresh. Water requirements met by fruits - how? This could be the question, which may come to your mind. Think about the summer fruits. They are so juicy. They do help replenish the water requirements and keep us hydrated with minerals. Adequate hydration regulates body temperature, normal functioning of different organs, nutrition delivery to cells, and alertness.
Come summers and it's all about melon, watermelon, lichi, and the king of fruits - my favourite mango. Ahh... I do not hate summers unless they are as harsh as this year. But I love summer fruits.
As Henry David Thoreau said – “Live in each season as it passes: breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the seasonal fruit.”
In these times, when we get fruits and vegetables all year-round, it is difficult to be bound by only the seasonal choices, but that is the best practice to be healthy.. Apples that we get in winter are sweeter than what we get after the season is over. Oranges are juicier in winter too.
It is because every seasonal fruit tastes better in its own season. It ripens to reach its wholesome taste and nutritional richness naturally.
In every season, the climatic changes affect everyone around. We require a different seasonal food which gives us the best nutritional values in accordance with the changing season. Our body demands on its own. Remember, we love bajra roti with jaggery in winter and not in summers. Curd-rice is enjoyed more in summers than in winters. Chaas is enjoyed more as the days get hotter.
Seasonal fruits come to our aid to keep us healthy as they are power-packed with all vitamins, minerals, and nutrients needed for the particular season. They fulfill the nutritional demands of our bodies.
Summer is one of the most sensitive seasons. During summers, dehydration sets in very quickly, which lowers the energy levels drastically. The energy levels need to be maintained with the correct water intake.
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| Watermelon - Unsplash |
1. Watermelon
Summer means watermelon. Do you agree? It prevents health issues such as skin breakouts, kidney stones, muscle soreness, asthma, water retention, constipation, and heart disease. It is believed to be domesticated in the African continent, almost 400 years ago. This sweet and juicy fruit is perfect to quench your thirst in the harsh summer heat. Power-packed with nutrients, it is enriched with antioxidants and Vitamin A & C.
2. Muskmelon Fruit
This muskmelon controls blood pressure. It also prevents eye problems. It is a powerhouse of nutrition. Muskmelon either tastes sweet or bland. I love it both ways, though sweet melon definitely adds more joy to eating. To make the bland melon worth enjoying, add salt and chaat masala. Its rind can be smooth ( as in our desi variety) ribbed, wrinkled, or netted. In my childhood, we used to get only the
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| Muskmelon Unsplash |
smooth rind variety, Slowly and steadily, we started seeing other varieties in local sabzi mandi and welcomed all with open arms. We can not do it for humans from other countries though because they might have some agenda of coming. But not for fruits. They just come to bring happiness and taste to our lives. How wonderful it would have been if we humans also visit other countries only to add happiness to others' lives and the world becomes borderless? High hopes, more so in the times of Ukraine- Russia war of more than two months. The origin of melons is not known. Some believed them to be native of the Levant and Egypt, while others say they come from Iran, India, or Central Asia. Still, others support an African origin. Anyway, now it is seen all around the world.
3. Lychee
I swear by Dehradun lychee, till a friend from Bihar brought lychee from her hometown and they were as delicious. In India, it is grown in Uttarakhand, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, and Uttar Pradesh. The
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| Lichi - Unsplash |
outside of the fruit is reddish, roughly textured, and inedible. It is a covering to the sweet flesh juicy white inside. The taste is divine. This delicious fruit promotes blood circulation in the body. It is good for the skin and helps maintain eye, heart, and bone health with daily consumption. Moreover, it manages acidity and helps with indigestion due to its fibrous nutrients. It has a big brown seed too. This seasonal fruit is also good for asthmatic patients.
Lichi is 70 % water and is enriched with carbohydrates, protein, and negligible fat. It is a rich source of Vitamin C, having 72mg per 100 gm, which is more than 80 % of daily requirements.
The seeds of sweet and juicy Litchi can cause hypoglycemia which in turn can become a cause of outbreaks of encephalopathy in undernourished children.
4. Mango
Now, this is an irony! The new generation thinks of mango as a clothing brand. Even our all-knowledgable Google baba does the same. As I was researching mango, the mango clothing brand was all around in google results. I had to write my keyword as mango fruit. It broke my heart. :(
Mango is a tropical stone fruit and one of my favourite fruits. In summers, my bed-tea is replaced by bed-mango. Yes, my day starts with eating a mango rather than drinking a cup of tea.
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| Mango- Unsplash |
The English word mango (plural "mangoes" or "mangos") originated from the Portuguese word, manga, from the Malay Mangga, probably ultimately from the Tamil man ("mango tree") + kay ("fruit").
Just like other summer fruits, raw mango has more than 80% water, 15% carbs, and negligible fats. Fresh mango has Vitamin C and folate in significant quantity. It is rich in pre-biotic dietary fiber, minerals, and poly-phenolic flavonoid antioxidant compounds too.
Lime/ Lemon
Lemon is in limelight these days because of rising prices. In my life, I have never seen lemon rise to such a high, especially on hot summer days. Let us not get into the reason but learn about this summerish wonder of India. It is a rich source of Vitamin C and an excellent cooler for hot summer days.
All parts of the lemon are used. Whole lemon is used to make marmalade, pickle, lemon curd, and lemon liquor. Lemon slices and rinds are used to garnish the food and drinks. The grated outer rind, the lemon zest is used to add flavours to baked products, puddings, rice, tea, and other dishes. And not to forget the lemon squash or apna desi nimboo-pani.
There are other useful by-products from the lemon. Citric acid, citrate of lime, lemon oil, and pectin are some of the by-products worth mentioning. Lemon oil is used in perfumes, soaps, and as flavouring agent. Pectin is an important ingredient to make jellies. Pectin is also used in medicines used for intestinal disorders, antihemorrhagic, and even as a plasma extender.
The origin of the lemon is unknown, though lemons are thought to have first grown in Assam (a region in northeast India), northern Burma, or China.
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| Lemon Unsplash |
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