One of the easiest ways to improve your health is to include a wide variety of fruits and vegetables into your daily diet. The different colors in produce contain different compounds that are necessary for good health. We are talking vitamins, minerals and antioxidants galore! Mix up the greens, blues/purples, oranges/yellows and reds. The key here is VARIETY, VARIETY, VARIETY!
Easily color coded for you... here are only some of the benefits of each color group:
green foods contain antioxidants and nutrients that promote healthy vision
orange and deep yellow foods also help promote healthy vision, plus they contain vitamins that boost your immune system
purple and blue foods contain antioxidants that provide anti-aging benefits, plus they help with memory, and urinary tract health
red foods are good for heart health, vision, and your immune system
some white, tan, and brown foods have nutrients that promote heart health
bonus: each of these colors also help reduce your risk of cancer!
Try making smoothies with different types of fresh or frozen berries (depending on the season). If you are feeling bold, throw some greens into your smoothie to give it an extra punch of pureness!! Start with a handful of greens and work your way up to more. I think spinach is the best green to start blending because when combined with some banana, you can’t even taste it!
Leafy greens have a full range of essential amino acids, minerals and of course the goodness of chlorophyll. I could honestly go on for days about the importance of eating more greens!! Let’s be real… in future blogs I absolutely will.
Eat as much raw, unprocessed food as possible. Vegetables lose their bright color when cooked, and during this process, a lot of the nutrition is lost as well. Try and eat it just as nature intended, fresh from mother earth!
When shopping or preparing your meals, think about including as many different colors on your plate as possible. This will ensure that you are getting a wide range of nutrition. Trust me…your cells will thank you.