New Delhi, June 3: Ditch oily food and alcohol for cold soups, sorbets and fresh vegetables to combat the harsh effects of summer on your body, say experts.

Pooja Makhija, celebrity nutritionist, and Govindrajan, Head, Research and Development, Sugar Free, have suggested a few dos and don'ts to combat the harsh summer heat. 

Dos:

♦ Fresh fruits, vegetables and salads

Summer heat could lead to dehydration and dehydration could lead to electrolyte loss, which could leave you feeling lethargic, nauseous, exhausted and may even cause diarrhoea and constipation. Up your intake of fresh fruit and vegetables in ways that are creative and yum like finger foods or fun salads so that you beat the heat. 

♦ Liquids and sorbets

Invite divine drinks into your life like kokum water, coconut water, chaas, fruit slushes and also frozen iced sorbets - the healthiest way to make this is to simply slush your fruit by lightly beating it and then freezing it. These foods work well to restore electrolyte balance and also provide healthy and interesting ways to pack in those nutrients. 

♦ Water and infused water

Apart from increasing your water consumption to about 10-12 glasses per day, why not try killing two birds with one glass by infusing your water? Take care of both dehydration and nutrition by adding a small piece of fresh fruit like kiwi or strawberry or even basil to your water with a pinch of Sugar Free Green.

 Sauteed greens

Give a nod to sauteed greens this season because these are light, can be made very entertaining and always bring nice gifts with them like reduced cholesterol, cancer-fighting abilities, anti-ageing benefits, powerful vitamins and tons of energy.

♦ Cold soups

Team up fresh salads with the perfect escort: hearty cold soups that include gazpachos, cold cucumber soups, and tomato soups for that full flavour and for that feeling of being full.

Don'ts: 

♦ Excess protein

Photo: Carnivore Style

Proteins are harder to digest in general and coupled with heat and dehydration, could leave you feeling uncomfortable and possibly nauseous if consumed in excess. The recommended daily intake of protein is one gram per kilo of ideal body weight (the appropriate weight for your height). So, no matter what you currently weigh, if your ideal body weight is supposed to be 57-58 kilos, your protein intake should not exceed 57-58 grams per day.

♦ Alcohol

Nothing looks more tempting and refreshing than a cool cocktail, all frosty and pink, beckoning you to drink it. The harsh reality is that alcohol adds to more heat; alcohol is a vasodilator, which means that more blood gushes through your system leaving you feeling hotter and sweatier. Alcohol is also extremely dehydrating.

♦ Oily food

When bodies are not hydrated, they are not always able to expel all by-products of heavier, oilier foods through the kidney, which is why urination is not as frequent when you are dehydrated. To counter this, the load of excreting oily food comes on to the skin - the second largest excretory organ - which will make you sweat more, dehydrate you further, kick-starting a vicious cycle.

 

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Belagavi (Karnataka) (PTI): The opposition BJP on Wednesday staged a walkout from the Karnataka assembly protesting the alleged "non-disbursal" of two months' installments to 1.26 crore beneficiaries under a woman's assistance scheme of the state government.

The protest followed a heated debate in which the opposition accused the state government of providing "misleading" information regarding the payment status of the flagship Gruha Lakshmi scheme.

The saffron party members trooped into the well of the House and raised slogans, leading to the adjournment of the proceedings of the House for over an hour.

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The Gruha Lakshmi guarantee scheme is one of the five pre-poll promises of the ruling Congress. It provides Rs 2,000 monthly to women heads of the Below Poverty Line (BPL) families.

The BJP legislators accused Woman and Child Welfare Minister Laxmi Hebbalkar of having "misled" the House by giving false information to BJP MLA Mahesh Tenginkai that all the instalments till August have been paid under the scheme.

The opposition charged that the installments for the months of February and March this year were not paid.

The BJP MLAs' grouse was that they had been demanding an explanation from the Minister for the past three days, but she never turned up to provide information.

As soon as the session started, the opposition members trooped into the well of the House demanding the Minister's presence, which led to the adjournment.

When the members assembled again, the Minister replied that this is a unique flagship programme of the Congress government, which is a model for all the states.

Hebbalkar said she always strived to ensure that this scheme is implemented religiously.

"However, when I checked, I noticed that two months' installments were not paid to the beneficiaries through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT). If my reply has hurt anyone, then I express my regret," she said.

Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, who came to the defence of Hebbalkar, said the BJP should apologise for the lie in the Union Budget.

"Despite the Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announcing Rs 5,300 crore for the Upper Bhadra Irrigation Project in the budget, the money was not given to Karnataka. You should question that as well," Shivakumar underlined.

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To this, Leader of Opposition in the assembly R Ashoka said the matter was raised because not only were the BJP members hurt but also the 1.26 crore beneficiaries who were eagerly waiting for the money.

Demanding that the lie be expunged from the House records, he insisted on a date for when the backlog will be paid to the beneficiaries.

The Minister said she was apologising for giving a wrong reply, but she was peeved at the way a woman was targeted in the House.

Objecting to this statement, BJP MLA S Suresh Kumar asked her to refrain from playing victim card and bring up the issue of gender, caste and religious discrimination as it was a matter related to 1.26 crore people.

Ashoka and the BJP MLAs then staged a walkout, saying the Minister's reply was not satisfactory.