Eat the rainbow

July 2, 5:00 PMMilwaukee Nutrition ExaminerSuzanne Monroe

Do you feel stuck in a rut? Are you always eating the same things every day? Variety of food is an important factor in eating. Studies show that increasing variety of fresh, whole foods helps to round out nutrition and ensure that you get a variety of important vitamins and minerals. Maybe you have heard that you should “eat the rainbow”, enjoying one food from each color of the rainbow every day.

Examples of foods from the rainbow:

Red – apples, berries, red peppers
Orange – sweet potatoes, carrots
Yellow – squash, celery
Green – cucumbers, kale, spinach
Blue – blueberries
Purple – berries, eggplant
 

By enjoying a rainbow of colors in your diet, you are accomplishing something very important: You are eating an antioxidant rich diet. Antioxidants are natural substances that exist as vitamins, minerals and other compounds in foods. They are believed to prevent disease by fighting free radicals in the body.

What are free radicals? - They form when the body undergoes stress - stress from unhealthy foods, toxins in the environment like cigarette smoke, and even from just ageing and breathing.

Focusing on antioxidants is great way to stay healthy without jumping on the bandwagon of another fad diet or counting calories until you’re blue in the face. If you’re finding it difficult to get started, try the following steps: 

1. Choose one or two colors that are usually missing from the food you eat. Focus on eating foods these colors for the next two weeks, long enough to create a new habit and notice any change you might feel.

2. Check out local farmer's markets  - you're sure to find lots of colorful produce. 
 

3. For delicious recipes filled with the flavors of the rainbow,take a look here.