New Delhi: These days all of us are constantly counting calories and summer is a time that we get urges to have sweetened drinks, coolers, mocktails etc. adding ample extra calories.
To make summer time fun and healthy, here are interesting ideas to quench the thirst:
Iced water: Glass full of ice, pour water over ice, can add a slice of lemon. Refreshing, cooling, no calories.
Fruit infused flavour water: Add some melon, peaches, orange, mint to water and store in the fridge. Refreshing, awesomely flavoured with very little or no calories.
Salted lassi with roasted cumin: Yoghurt, cold water, salt, ginger juice, cumin (coriander and chopped green chillies optional). Absolutely Yum, filling and super healthy mid-morning snack.
Our good old nimbu pani with a twist: Lemon, black salt, roasted cumin, crushed mint leaves. Refreshing, negligible calories.
Melon and cucumber juice: Blend together musk melon, cucumber and mint…Yum!
Berry blast: Frozen strawberries, frozen blue berries and frozen raspberries (add yohurt as an option). Power packed, vitamin dense. Excellent mid- morning or mid evening snack.
Seasonal fruit smoothie: Blend half a mango, yoghurt. Delicious mid- morning or breakfast option.
Plum soda: Cook some plum pulp in water till it becomes a thick mixture and store the concentrate in the fridge. When thirsty, spoon some pulp in a glass, top it up with some soda and kala namak. If you like it sweeter, you can add some stevia.
Jaljeera: Lemon, jaljeera powder, mint. Negligible calories
Coconut water: Available everywhere, cooling and very little calories. If at home, pour over ice and enjoy!!
Always remember to give sugar a hard time, STAY OFF IT!!
(The author is a dietician and is a NewsMobile mobile journalist)