Rainbow Color Your Way to Organic Daily Health

You know it's important that we eat plenty of different fruits and vegetables every day, yet there are many benefits that you may not have thought of. Diets rich in fruits and vegetables have proven to reduce the risk of cancer and other chronic and debilitating diseases.

Fruits and vegetables provide most of your essential fiber, vitamins and minerals, and other naturally occurring compounds that are paramount for optimum health. Most fruits and vegetables have Mother Nature's blessing of being naturally low in fat and calories and are fiberously filling.

You’ve probably heard of, or at least understand, the 5 A Day for Better Health program? It provides an easy, at a glance way to add more fruits and vegetables into your daily eating patterns. My version of the 5 A Day for Better Health program is: eat a rainbow.

It might sound funny but it's the easiest way to keep track of what you're eating. For instance, if you get towards the end of the day and are feeling low on energy, think back over what you've already eaten today. See if any color is missing. When I say rainbow, I mean a general coverage of colors, NOT one of each color! Being mindful of this aspect of your diet will go a long way to insuring yourself against ill health.

As always, remember that each person's body is different and can react differently than others. It’s so important that we eat a wide variety of color of vegetables and fruits. From orange/yellow to greens and reds, white, and blue/purple, encases the color spectrum for most natural foods.

By eating organic vegetables and fruit from all the color groups, you will benefit from the essential vitamins, minerals, and fiber that each color group has to offer on it's own, but combinations are better.

It's fine to gorge on one type of fruit or veggie but what about synergy? Eating a wide variety of foods plays a big role in how well your body utilises the vitamins and minerals it's given. For example, did you know that for your body to uptake the most from calcium, vitamin D is required?
In the vitamin world it's referred to as chelation. Yes, you need to eat the full rainbow to get the best results.

There are a few different, yet easy and simple ways to start incorporating the rainbow of natural food into your family's favorite meals. You can choose a breakfast of 100% fruit and/or vegetable juice, slice bananas, pineapple, strawberries or blueberries on top of your cereal, or have a salad with lunch and an apple and a handful of sultanas or organic dried fruit for your afternoon pick-me-up snack. Include a vegetable with dinner and you already have your basic 5 colors of fruits and veggies covered. You can pretty much nibble at a piece of fruit anytime for snacks and add an extra vegetable at a time with dinner.

Keep trying new fruits and veggies, ever increasing your vegetable and fruit intake. There are so many choices when selecting fruits and vegetables. Pomegranate, kiwifruit, asparagus, jack fruit or mango may become your new favorite.
Combining fruits and vegetables of different flavors, colors and textures, like red grapes with pineapple chunks, or cucumbers and red peppers, will keep your food life interesting.

If you get in the habit of keeping fruits and vegetables visible, pre chopped and easily accessible – you’ll eat them more, and so will your family! Store cut and cleaned produce at eye-level in the refrigerator, and make sure to keep a big colorful bowl of fresh fruit on the table.