Eat the Rainbow for Health

Eat the Rainbow for Health

What does “Eating the Rainbow” mean? From a nutritionist point of view, it means adding in more COLOR in the form of whole real unprocessed foods! Many people who follow the Standard American Diet mostly eat (processed) foods with colors of brown, yellow and white.For example, think of the typical breakfast menu – waffles, pancakes, ready-to-eat cereal, sausage, and eggs  etc. Lunch is a sandwich or pasta, pizza etc…you get the picture!

How can you Eat the Rainbow? By adding more COLOR to your current meals!

Some Easy Ideas:

• Have a protein smoothie with berries and a handful of spinach
• Add some bell peppers and onions to your eggs
• Add tomatoes and cucumbers to your snack
• Add chopped broccoli, zucchini or asparagus to your pasta dish
• Dice up some sweet potato or carrots to your soup or stir fry

The key is to start where you can and be creative! Make a conscious effort to increase the amount of color in your diet, with an ultimate goal of consuming the full seven colors every day!

How Much Should I Have?

Our bodies thrive on 9-13 servings of whole plant foods a day, if we want optimal health, well-being and to prevent chronic disease. A typical serving is half a cup of cooked vegetables, one cup of raw leafy vegetable, or a medium-sized piece of fruit. It’s ideal to aim for every meal of the day to have about 3-4 servings of plant foods. Is that a lofty goal? Aim for at least 1 serving per meal!

Phytonutrient-rich foods (meaning they are rich in vitamins. minerals and antioxidants from plant sources) are limitless, making it fun to experiment with new varieties and colors even within one category of food.

Sources of phytonutrients include: any and all plant foods, including fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, seeds, and even herbs and spices.

TIPS and TACTICS

Vary Your Choices

There are thousands of phytonutrients in nature. If we eat the same foods over and over again, even if they are colorful, we may be missing the universe of important phytonutrients in foods. One helpful hint is to try a new food every week to ensure that you are getting different foods to try!

Maximize Combinations

When we put certain foods together, we may achieve a better effect than if we just had the foods by themselves. Sometimes, there can be a “synergistic” result from combining certain foods, that increases absorption and maximum benefits in the body.

For example, putting turmeric with black pepper together with a healthy fat, like olive oil could enhance the effects of all three foods! Vitamin C helps the absorption of Iron; so adding lemon juice or bell peppers to spinach could help the iron become more absorbed by your body. Try putting plant foods together for an enhanced health benefit.

Be Creative with Substitutions

One way to get more plant foods would be to think of our common foods and replace them with more nutrient-dense options. For example, you could substitute mashed potatoes with mashed purple potatoes or sweet potatoes. You could substitute white rice with purple, brown, or black rice. Instead of white pasta, opt for a lentil or chickpea pasta, or even try spaghetti squash, zucchini or butternut squash noodles!

For more easy ways to get more Color in your diet, refer to my article:

Easy Ways to Eat More Vegetables