Healthy Summer Drinks & Their Benefits

The rising mercury can leave you quite tired and dehydrated. While water can help you avoid dehydration, turning to some healthy drinks can help you replenish the essential nutrients you need to beat the heat! Here’s a guide to some flavorful and refreshing combination of summer drinks to get you through this season!

1. Sattu Sherbet  

Sattu has an extremely cooling effect. It is not only refreshing but is also filling. Generally prepared by roasted bengal grams, they are sieved and then ground to a fine flour. This flour can be used to make Sattu Sherbet. One can either serve Sattu with jaggery or with cumin seeds powder and chopped coriander leaves with Himalaya Pink Salt and water. Sattu Sherbet is full of nutrient fibre and protein, a super summer cooler!

Ingredients:

• Chana sattu – 2 tbsp  
• Lemon juice – 2 tsp
• Roasted Cumin powder – ½ tsp
• Mint leaves – 2 tsp (chopped)
• Black salt/Rock salt to taste
• Coriander leaves
• Chilled water

Method:

1. Add all ingredients in a jug and mix well
2. Serve in glasses along with some ice cubes
3. Garnish with more mint leaves

Benefits of Sattu Sherbet:

• Good source of energy
• Improves digestion
• Good for  skin
• Good for diabetes: Sattu has low glycaemic index and keeps our sugar level in check
• It has more insoluble fibre and flushes out oil consumed in diet
• Maintains healthy weight
• Sattu consists of vitamins and minerals, especially protein that keeps you strong and takes care of wear and tear of muscle which works great as a post workout drink .

2. Aam Panna

One of the traditional summer drinks, Aam Panna is considered as one of the best! It will help your body stay cool and hydrated. This drink is prepared using raw mango pulp blended with cumin and mint leaves. It’s a refreshing drink that takes care of your skin!

Ingredients:

• Raw mango pulp – 4 tbsp  
• Jaggery for taste
• Roasted cumin seeds powder – 1 spoon
• Black Salt – ¼ spoon
• Water and Ice cubes

Method:

1. Boil the raw mangoes till they become soft
2. When cool, remove the skin and squeeze the pulp with a spoon
3. Mix all the ingredients in a mixer, blend well
4. Add 2 cups of water
5. Put ice cubes first in glass and pour the panna over it
6. Garnish with mint leaves and coriander leaves

Benefits of Aam Panna:

• The Vitamin C takes found in Aam Panna takes care of skin infections during summer and it detoxes the body
• Improves digestion: Black Salt and mint leaves enhance the effects of digestion
• Improves immunity
• Takes care of sunstroke

3. Shikanji

Also known as Shikanjbeen, Shikanji is one of the most favourite summer drinks of India. A flavourful summer cooler that is rich in vitamin C. This lemonade is a mixture of normal water with lemon juice and some Indian spices such as roasted cumin seeds powder, black pepper powder, black salt and ginger.

All the spices found in Shikanji enhance flavour and improve the absorption of Vitamin C. It is anti-inflammatory in nature and prevents sunstroke.

Ingredients:

• Chilled water
• Lemon juice
• Roasted Cumin Seeds Powder – 1 spoon
• Black pepper powder – ¼ spoon
• Black Salt – ¼ spoon  
• Mint leaves
• Jaggery/Sugar to taste

Method:

1. Blend all the ingredients
2. Put a few ice cubes and garnish with mint leaves

Health benefits of Shikanji:

• Improves digestion
• It works as an antioxidant. As lemon is rich in vitamin C, its alkaline nature protects the cells from oxidation
• Natural coolant: It keeps the body cool and hydrated.
• Prevents the loss of electrolytes due to sweating

4. Kokum sherbet

The scientific name of Kokum is Garcinia Indica. It is a perfect refreshing, energizing and hydrating drink. 

Ingredients:

• Kokam – 2 cups
• Roasted ground cumin seeds – 1 sp
• Black Salt – ½ sp  
• Sugar/Jaggery to taste

Method:

1. Soak dried Kokam in hot water till soft,
2. Blend and make it into a puree, strain the puree and discard seeds and hard particles
3. Add 3 spoons of this puree in a glass and fill with chilled water
4. Adding sugar or jaggery, mix the cumin seed powder and Black Salt
5. Serve with ice cubes and mint leaves ,

Health benefits of Kokum Sherbet:

• Kokam acts as a natural coolant
• It removes pitta dosha  as per Ayurveda
• Has good Vitamin C and Antioxidant properties
• Improves digestion
• Helps in relieving skin rashes

Do try these summer drinks and let us know how you feel about them! Got some recipes of your own? Share them with us in the comments below! For more healthy summer drinks and recipes, check out Healthy Reads or tune in to LIVE sessions by experts on GOQii Play. 

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