Summer naturally steers us towards cold drinks and beverages, skipping oily food and high-calorie snacks altogether. This season gives one an opportunity to detox and improve overall well-being. However, consuming a lot of sugar-sweetened and canned soft drinks, juices, and ice-creams can increase the risk of obesity and chronic diseases like diabetes. Drinking too many carbonated drinks can also harm your oral health and can cause tooth decay.
To avoid such risks, one can make a smarter choice by opting for natural and homemade drinks. In this article, we talk about natural drinks made from seasonal fruits, lentils, herbs and spices that have cooling properties.
In her recent post, Ayurveda expert Dr Dixa Bhavsar shared 10 natural cooling drinks to beat the heat this summer.
Fennel Sharbat: Take a bowl, and add 2 teaspoons of fennel powder. Add rock sugar (misri/khand) as per taste. Add 2 glasses of water and mix them well. And your delicious cooling fennel drink is ready.
Sattu Energy Drink: The extremely cooling and best source of easily digestible protein during summers, sattu sharbat is a popular choice of fitness enthusiasts. Mix 1 tsp sattu powder in a glass of water, add a pinch of roasted cumin and pink salt and add some jaggery in it and the drink is ready.
Pudina Sharbat: Take 2-3 glasses of water, add handful of mint leaves in it and small pieces of rock sugar (as per taste) and grind it thoroughly. Then add half lemon and rock salt (as per taste), strain and sip the most delicious mint drink.
Gulkand Shots: Take one glass of milk, add one tbsp gulkand in it and mix it with the hand blender. Then enjoy small shots of gulkand milk mixture with your family.
Paan Shots: Take 4 paan (betel leaves) torn into small pieces, 4 tsp gulkand, one tsp fennel seeds, one tsp grated coconut, one tbsp rock sugar/misri (optional) and 1/4th cup water. First of all, add the pieces of paan to the mixer. Then add all other ingredients except water and blend them for a few seconds. Add water and blend until smooth. Your paan shots are ready.
Bilva or Bael Sharbat: Take bilva fruit. Cut it from the middle and take out the inner soft pulp. Soak the pulp in 1 glass of water for 20 mins. Then mash the pup thoroughly. Later strain it and add one tsp jaggery, roasted cumin, cardamom and a pinch of black salt in it. Your bilva sharbat is ready.
Khas Sharbat: Soak Khas (Vetiver) in water for 8-10 hours. Then strain it, and add rock sugar to it (as per taste).
Kokum Sharbat: Take two fresh kokum fruits, cut them in half, remove the seeds and then grind them into a fine paste. Make rock sugar syrup and pour it into the kokum paste, add cumin and cardamom powder to taste. Add 2-3 tbsp of this paste in a glass, add cold water from earthen pot and enjoy your kokum sharbat.
Sugarcane Juice: Drink fresh sugarcane juice during summers. Best energy provider and thirst reliever.
Coconut Water: Have it in the morning or two hours post meals in the afternoon (around 4 pm).
