Our seasonal guides aren’t about overhauling your life or perfecting your daily routine - they’re about supporting you to make small steps for sustainable change in your body, your mind, and your life. WIth that in mind - our Summer guide is all about reconnecting to nature’s rhythms through sunlight, seasonal foods, social connection and tips that help support your body inside and out.
Longer days and warmer weather invite us to spend more time outdoors in nature, which can provide a much needed re-set away from screens, emails and constant to-do lists. In this guide, we’re sharing some of the practices, foods and mindset shifts we’re leaning into this season, to help you feel more reconnected to the world around you. Let’ dive in…
Being Smart With Sunlight
It’s no secret that in the UK, we get pretty excited when the sun comes out. We feel this is definitely the season to make the most of the sunshine and all the benefits it brings. After all, sunlight has literally been used therapeutically for centuries via ‘heliotherapy’ to treat diseases from rickets to depression, and it’s well known sunlight has a powerful effect on overall wellbeing. However, we also know that in the wellness world, the conversation is often way too one-sided; it’s also important to make sure you’re being smart with how you time your sunlight and how you protect your skin from potential sun damage.
In 2014, researchers published findings from the Melanoma in Southern Sweden cohort; a 20-year prospective study following 29,518 Swedish women. They found that all-cause mortality was roughly twice as high in women who avoided the sun compared to those with the highest sun exposure habits. This tells us that getting sunshine year-round and at different points throughout the day is important - not just staying indoors for most of the year and then suddenly frying yourself on a 1-week holiday in the Mediterranean…
Many years of research also show that morning sunlight is key when it comes to preparing the skin for stronger UV rays later in the day. Morning sunlight helps ‘prepare’ the skin for later sun exposure by triggering low-level melanin production (stimulating a ‘base tan’), boosting skin-protecting Vitamin D synthesis, and jumpstarting circadian rhythms that support natural cellular repair and antioxidant defenses before the peak UV hours occur.
How we’re putting it into practise:
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Getting outside every morning, which also helps support our circadian rhythms
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Seeking shade when we feel the need, or if we’re going to be out for longer periods in the hot sun, using natural protection from clothing. Sunscreen can be a controversial topic in the health world, but if you do want to use it, we’d recommend brands like Fierce Nature’s organic tallow sun balm, or Green People’s organic sun cream for kids or the adult’s mineral sun cream.
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Staying consistent with our collagen supplementation, which has been shown to help strengthen the skin’s barrier, improve moisture retention, and provide building blocks to repair oxidative stress caused by sun exposure.
Explore & Adventure
From the perspective of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) every season supports a different way of living. You’ve probably heard of ‘yin’ and ‘yang’ energy, and Summer is the peak of ‘yang’. This means we may feel more energised and extroverted, and this is a great time to make the most of it by getting out there; meeting new people and exploring new places. From an ancestral perspective, humans would have used these longer, warmer days as a time to prioritise more foraging and may have travelled further, thus meeting new tribes. This way of living is imprinted into our human needs, and research shows that social connection is a powerful way to support our wellbeing.
How we’re putting it into practise:
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Prioritising meeting friends face-to-face rather than messaging online
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Exploring our local natural areas
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Signing up to seasonal events in our local community
Focus on seasonal, unprocessed foods
Nature is always giving us what we need, when we need it. Foods naturally available during Summer often support hydration and natural skin protection via their antioxidant benefits. Check our Summer Nutrient Guide for the top nutrients to focus on this season, and try adding these foods to your plate:
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Raspberries
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Courgette
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Grass fed dairy
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Tomatoes
Reduce inflammatory foods
When it comes to supporting your health throughout Summer, what you eat could have a bigger impact than you think. A 2025 study found that people consuming a pro-inflammatory diet were twice as likely to report skin cancer. There are many things that can make a diet pro-inflammatory, and one of them is consuming excessive amounts of omega 6 fatty acids compared to anti-inflammatory omega 3s. Seed oils and processed foods tend to be highly inflammatory, so this is an important season to reduce them as much as possible.
Here are some anti-inflammatory swaps to try:
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Seed oils ➡️ Grass fed butter, tallow and cold pressed olive oil
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Processed, grain-fed meat ➡️ Grass fed, unprocessed meat and Beef Organs
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Sugary cereal ➡️ Grass fed yoghurt and seasonal berries
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Soda or energy drinks ➡️ Kombucha or sparking water and lemon
Hydrating Naturally
Hotter, sweatier Summer days mean hydration is key, but drinking excessive amounts of plain water can actually flush the body of minerals,and contribute to dehydration. Signs you may need to top up your electrolytes include brain fog, fatigue, muscle weakness, excessive thirst and dark urine. This is where focusing on natural sources of electrolytes is important. Many electrolyte products you’ll find are full of sugars or artificial sweeteners, so we prefer to get ours from the natural foods our ancestors would have consumed, like bone broth, fruits and vegetables, and grass fed dairy.
How we’re hydrating:
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Bone broth before coffee every morning
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Seasonal fruits like blackcurrants and raspberries
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Grass-fed raw dairy
Each season brings its own rhythm, its own nutritional gifts, and its own set of needs. Summer invites us into a lighter way of living, more connected to the world around us. This isn’t about rigid rules or perfection; it’s about noticing what your body is asking for and shifting your habits to meet it. That might mean more intentional hydration, making changes to your diet, or simply spending more time in nature this season. We hope this guide will give you some inspiration to reconnect to what Summer really feels to you this year.
-the APE Team