The dog days of summer are upon us. The heat is so oppressive, it can be hard to cool yourself down. Thankfully, this week, we have an arsenal of lifestyle tips, foods, and recipes aimed to beat this blistering Texas summer.

Austin-native health + lifestyle coach, acupuncturist, herbalist, yoga + meditation instructor, and Chinese medicine guru, Anne Woods-Miller, advised us on 10 lifestyle pro-tips to keep you cool when all you feel is HOT.

Dog days. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

10 Ways to Beat the Texas Heat

1. When cooking at home, change the way you cook to focus more on fermenting, sprouting, steaming, simmering, and marinating meals instead of frying, grilling or baking. Or eat food cold!
2. This might seem counterintuitive, but don’t eat too many frozen foods. It is harmful to the digestive system (extreme cold meeting extreme heat can cause issues). Enjoy a frozen treat here and there, but keep it to a minimum. Think about keeping things chilled instead of frozen, and even skipping ice in your water.
3. Add 1 drop of peppermint oil to your water bottle.
4. Stop using black pepper and switch it out with white pepper. White pepper is more neutral for the body. Black pepper heats the body, and can make you feel warmer in the heat.
5. Add more foods with blue, green, and purple colors. It’s simple, cooling colors cool the body. Reach for a green salsa at the grocery store instead of a red salsa!
6. Introduce more raw foods, salads, smoothies, and juices - they are all cooling and refreshing.
7. Avoid red meat, smoking, excessive alcohol, too much coffee, fried and greasy foods, and excessive dairy. These are all inflammatory foods. Smoking is literally the act of adding smoke + fire to the body.
8. Wear a cap or a cool bandana around your neck. Put one drop of peppermint oil into a bucket of water, douse bandanas in it, put them into the freezer overnight, and wear around your neck when you go outside for long periods of time.
9. Avoid running midday and hot yoga. Running during yin time (yin time = early morning and late night) is best. Also get good sleep. Good sleep will cool and rejuvenate the body, and also aid in the healing process.
10. Use the cooling yoga breath. Inhale through teeth or rolled (like a taco) tongue for a count of 5, and exhale with a relaxed jaw. Do this for 10 breaths up to 4 times a day. It cools your insides down
11. Bonus tip: go swimming!

Go get in some water! Photo by Anne Woods-Miller.

Anne's Top Cooling Recipes:

Healthy Homestyle Okra and Tomatoes

• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 5 large plum tomatoes, diced (or 28 oz can of fire roasted organic tomatoes)
• 1lb fresh okra
• 2 tsp gumbo file
• 1 bay leaf
• Salt, white pepper
• 1 cup short grain brown rice, 2 cups water

Make your brown rice first. 1 cup of washed and drained brown rice, to 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil and set on low for 40 min.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet or dutch oven on medium heat. Add the onion and saute for 5 min. Add the garlic, and saute until fragrant. Add okra and salt, and cook for about 3 min, or until soft. Stir in the tomatoes and gumbo file seasoning with the bay leaf, and cook for 5 min. Add salt and white pepper to taste.

Okra. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Lemongrass Shrimp Skewers with Coconut Rice

Marinade: 1 stalk of diced lemongrass, diced 1 inch ginger, 1 clove garlic diced, sesame oil, rice vinegar, gluten free tamari (soy sauce), melted coconut oil or olive oil. Marinate the shrimp in the fridge for minimum 1 hr (can do this step overnight).

Shrimp skewers: Grill, or heat on a skillet until cooked through, chill the shrimp in the fridge.

Lay the chilled shrimp on top of a bed of fresh arugula or salad greens. Toss with a little olive oil, salt, and white pepper. Garnish with thinly sliced watermelon radish, cucumber, and shredded carrot.

Lemongrass-coconut rice: Soak 1 cup white rice, rinse and drain. Use half coconut milk and half water that equals 1 ½ cups, tie the lemongrass into knots. Lay them on top. Cook rice for 20 min. Remove lemongrass knots before serving.

Farm Fresh Pesto Pasta

• 3 zucchinis (or a spaghetti squash)
• 1/2 bunch amaranth greens, 1/2 bunch basil, 1/2 bunch parsley
• 1/2 cup of pine nuts (or a variation)
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/2 cup - 1 cup olive oil
• 1 small garlic clove
• 1/4 tsp of salt

Spiralize zucchini into noodles. (or if no spiralizer, bake your JBG CSA spaghetti squash at 425 for 40 minutes, and use as spaghetti!)

Pesto: amaranth greens, parsley, basil, lemon juice, olive oil, small garlic clove, salt, and pine nuts (or substitute with walnuts, pecans, pumpkin seeds, or almonds). Add all those ingredients into a food processor, and process until smooth. Add more oil, lemon juice, or salt to taste.

Mix the zucchini with the pesto, and top with fresh cut tomatoes, salt, and white pepper, and a few chopped nuts that you added in your pesto.

Greens in Anne's garden. Courtesy of Anne's instagram @woods.acupuncture.

Chilled Hibiscus Herbal Lemonade

• 1 Tbs loose Hibiscus tea
• 1 Tbs loose Tulsi tea
• 1 Tbs Goji berries
• 1 Tbs Spearmint leaves
• 3/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice (to add at the end) water

Check the bulk section at your local grocery store for these ingredients. Add enough boiling water to your tea to steep for 1 hr. Or, place herbs in a large jar or covered pitcher of water, and leave out in the hot sun for 2-3hrs for sun tea (a fun project for kids!). Work with the seasons to your benefit! Strain, and reserve the herbs to make a 2nd batch, if you wish. Once cooled off a bit, add ¾ cup fresh squeezed lemon juice.

Store herbal lemonade in the fridge for up to a week. Enjoy chilled with sparkling water, or add a little honey and enjoy hot in the morning.

Lemonade makings. Photo by Anne Woods-Miller. Courtesy of Anne's instagram @woods.acupuncture.

Cool as a Cucumber Green Juice

• Sweet potato greens
• Romaine lettuce
• Cucumber
• Spinach (chard or kale would work here, also)
• Celery
• Mint
• Lemon

Can be made either in a juicer or your blender. Drink at room temperature. Can save extra for up to one week in a sealed jar or container in the fridge.

A huge thanks to Anne for keeping us cool! Check out Anne’s website and Instagram and to learn more about booking health coaching sessions and more!

A huge thanks to Anne Woods-Miller! Thanks again for taking the time to talk to us.