Every season brings a wealth of delicious, nutritious and colourful foods and summer has it all! It’s always best to eat with the seasons to gain maximum nutritional benefit from foods. However, it’s also a great time to make sure your June diet is on-track, keeping you feeling healthy and energised through the summer season.

Clinical nutritionist Suzie Sawyer shares the range of foods that can help kick-start your healthy eating plan for June.

 

 

Favourite fruits

Summer always brings a wealth of colour variety and nutritional goodness with all the delicious fruits available. It’s actually the best month for one of our all-time fruit favourites, strawberries! They contain some of the highest levels of vitamin C of all fruits, plus a wealth of beneficial plant compounds providing antioxidant protection. Many of these benefits are found in the skin and seeds.

And whilst there’s often a big question mark around fruit and sugar content, the good news is that strawberries (and all berry fruits) are low on the glycaemic index, so won’t upset blood sugar levels. Plus cherries are in season now too! Peaches are also on trend and they’re loaded with immune-boosting beta-carotene which helps protect skin from sun damage.

Flavoursome fish

Our fish arrives on the supermarket shelves from all over the world so it’s really heart-warming to know that at certain times of year, we can actually eat fairly locally-sourced fish. Scallops from UK waters are always delicious with a sweet taste and firm texture. Additionally, crab is at its best right now, and so is plaice.

These fish are all high in protein, low in fat and can be used in many recipes. Scallops are great gently pan fried in a little butter with lemon and garlic, plaice works really well also pan-fried with capers and chopped tomatoes and there’s few better salads than one that includes some freshly dressed crab.

Versatile vegetables

Vegetables should always play a hugely important role in the daily diet at whatever time of year. However, make the most of the array of vegetables in season and maybe try some different ones? English asparagus and Jersey Royal potatoes are just two of our seasonal favourites.

However, why not try some broad beans? As a member of the legume family, they provide a good source of protein, plus heaps of energising B-vitamins and immune-boosting vitamin A. They’re hugely versatile and very tasty. They can be blended with some frozen peas, lightly cooked for around 3 minutes, whizzed up with some garlic and a little extra virgin olive oil and then spread onto sourdough bread with a goat’s cheese base. Equally, if you’re feeling in the mood for beans then runners come into season in June and are great to eat whilst still tender. They’re perfect with roasted lamb, also now in season.

Plus, don’t forget carrots! They partner well with everything or can be eaten on their own with some hummus, aubergines (fantastic roasted and then eaten hot or cold) and globe artichokes (great for feeding the healthy gut bacteria and delicious too!)

Healthy herbs

Whilst there’s some wonderful perennial herbs such as sage, rosemary and thyme, there’s plenty of others coming into season in June. Herbs have clearly been used medicinally for many years and whilst we generally choose them to add to our favourite dishes, it’s always good to remember their medicinal powers too.

Basil, which is the main ingredient in pesto, livens up many dishes that would otherwise be plain, such as pasta. However, it also works really well with chicken, mozzarella and tomato as well as white fish. Basil naturally helps the digestion which is why it’s often used with fattier foods.

Coriander is an essential herb in many curries, soups and casseroles and was originally used to help the urinary tract. Mint also aids digestion; another favourite in tea. Mint, of course is quite unique in that it works really well with sweet or savoury dishes: it’s a must with Jersey Royals and of course summer Pimms!

So why not make a point of eating as much seasonal food this June as you can and reap the fresh nutritional benefits?

 

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