LEARNING TO EAT HEALTHY WITH THE RAINBOW TRICK
How do I really eat healthy? It is the question we often ask ourselves when sitting down to a meal. Maybe you want to live as healthy a lifestyle as possible, maybe you want to balance out heavy meals over the holidays or nights out with friends when you can’t control how nutritious the food will be. For whatever reason, many of us find ourselves curious about the nutritional value of our food. But does the Nutrition Facts label really give you all the information you need? How do you know what you are eating when it doesn’t come with a fact-sheet neatly printed on the back of a carton?
A tried and true way to ensure you are getting proper nutrition is the eat the rainbow. Not a rainbow of candy or a rainbow of colored cereal, but a rainbow of naturally occurring food colors. Eating the rainbow is a great way to get a good variety of nutrients because different nutrients correspond with different colors of food. The nutrients we are talking about here are micronutrients, not macronutrients. Macronutrients are carbohydrates, fats and protein, and are the parts of food our bodies burn as calories. Micronutrients do not give us calories for energy, but they do a variety of other things in our bodies that keep us healthy and well functioning. Getting a good variety of micronutrients is essential for optimal health. When eating the rainbow, the darker or more saturated the color of a food, the higher the concentration of micronutrients in that food. This is why dark greens like kale or spinach are considered to be so healthy. Their dark green leaves indicate high concentrations of nutrients, making them very nutritious.
So, what micronutrients correspond to what colors? Below is a key linking colors to micronutrients. Each micronutrient group does something different in the body, so it is important to get a variety of colors in your diet.
Red: (tomatoes, peppers, cherries, berries, etc.) can contain lycopene, a cancer fighting micronutrient, and antioxidants that help fight free radicals in the body.
Orange/Yellow: (peppers, squash, yellow apples, carrots, peaches, oranges, etc.) can contain carotenoids which can convert to vitamin A in the body to help with vision, these micronutrients are also heart healthy.
Green: (dark leafy greens, zucchini, green grapes, broccoli, green apples, etc.) can contain lutein which helps with healthy eye function, and indoles which can be cancer fighting. Dark greens can contain folate, a B-vitamin that helps protect against birth defects.
Blue/Purple: (blueberries, cherries, blue or purple potatoes, eggplants, red grapes, etc.) contain antioxidants that fight free radicals and promote healthy ageing.
White: (turnips, cauliflower, bananas, onions, etc.) contain anthoxanthins which give them their white color. Some of these foods may have allicin to help keep hearts healthy and some contain good sources of potassium.
Next time you wonder how to best get in a nutritious meal, look for the rainbow on your plate!
A tried and true way to ensure you are getting proper nutrition is the eat the rainbow. Not a rainbow of candy or a rainbow of colored cereal, but a rainbow of naturally occurring food colors. Eating the rainbow is a great way to get a good variety of nutrients because different nutrients correspond with different colors of food. The nutrients we are talking about here are micronutrients, not macronutrients. Macronutrients are carbohydrates, fats and protein, and are the parts of food our bodies burn as calories. Micronutrients do not give us calories for energy, but they do a variety of other things in our bodies that keep us healthy and well functioning. Getting a good variety of micronutrients is essential for optimal health. When eating the rainbow, the darker or more saturated the color of a food, the higher the concentration of micronutrients in that food. This is why dark greens like kale or spinach are considered to be so healthy. Their dark green leaves indicate high concentrations of nutrients, making them very nutritious.
So, what micronutrients correspond to what colors? Below is a key linking colors to micronutrients. Each micronutrient group does something different in the body, so it is important to get a variety of colors in your diet.
Red: (tomatoes, peppers, cherries, berries, etc.) can contain lycopene, a cancer fighting micronutrient, and antioxidants that help fight free radicals in the body.
Orange/Yellow: (peppers, squash, yellow apples, carrots, peaches, oranges, etc.) can contain carotenoids which can convert to vitamin A in the body to help with vision, these micronutrients are also heart healthy.
Green: (dark leafy greens, zucchini, green grapes, broccoli, green apples, etc.) can contain lutein which helps with healthy eye function, and indoles which can be cancer fighting. Dark greens can contain folate, a B-vitamin that helps protect against birth defects.
Blue/Purple: (blueberries, cherries, blue or purple potatoes, eggplants, red grapes, etc.) contain antioxidants that fight free radicals and promote healthy ageing.
White: (turnips, cauliflower, bananas, onions, etc.) contain anthoxanthins which give them their white color. Some of these foods may have allicin to help keep hearts healthy and some contain good sources of potassium.
Next time you wonder how to best get in a nutritious meal, look for the rainbow on your plate!