EAT THE RAINBOW AND SUPERCHARGE FOR BETTER HEALTH, VITALITY, BRAINPOWER AND WELL-BEING

One of the most important things you can do to Better your health is to eat a plant rich diet.

What do I mean by plant rich? Plant rich means that the majority of your diet consists of plant foods while also adding an adequate amount of quality protein and healthy fats (avocados, coconut and nuts).

Did you know that the root of the word diet may have come from the Greek word “Diaita” which means “way of life”. A diet is meant to support health and well-being and simply put, eating the rainbow will do just that for you and simply involves eating fruits and vegetables of different colours every day.

Plants contain different pigments, or phytonutrients, which give them their colour. Different-coloured plants are linked to higher levels of specific nutrients and health benefits.

While eating more vegetables and fruit is always a good idea, focusing on eating a variety of colours will increase your intake of different nutrients to benefit various areas of your health.

Almost all studies show benefits from eating colourful fruits and vegetables. By getting a variety of colour in your diet, you’re giving your body an array of vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals to benefit your health, vitality and well-being.

But wait that’s not all, plant foods are absolutely necessary to improve your gut microbiome because they contain fibre and phytonutrients. Most dietary approaches out there agree on this one premise. So here’s another reason for starting to implement this strategy!

Phytonutrients or phytochemicals contain something quite powerful. These include: polyphenols, resveratrol, flavonoids, isoflavonoids, terpenoids, and carotenoids.

Phytonutrients have been found to supercharge your immunity, reduce inflammation, help in preventing cancer and slow down the aging process.

One way of imprinting it in your mind about the best phytonutrients is to think of eating the rainbow of fruits and vegetables.

Here are some foods to get you started:

Red Foods:

red apples, beets, red cabbage, cherries, cranberries, pink grapefruit, red grapes, red peppers, pomegranates, red potatoes, radishes, raspberries, rhubarb, strawberries, tomatoes or tomato sauce, watermelon.

Orange or Deep Yellow Foods:

apricots, butternut squash, cantaloupe, carrots, corn, grapefruit, lemons, mangoes, nectarines, oranges, papaya, peaches, pears, persimmons, pineapple, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, yellow peppers, yellow squash.

Green Foods:

Artichokes, asparagus, avocados, green apples, green beans, broccoli, bok choy, chard, collard greens, cucumbers, grapes, green onion, honeydew melon, kale, kiwi, lettuce, lime, peas, peppers, spinach, zucchini.

Blue or Purple Foods:

Blackberries, black currants, blueberries, eggplant, elderberries, kelp, prunes, purple grapes, raisins.

We are all unique thus one thing to consider is if you are battling with diabetes, insulin resistance, belly fat, weight loss issues and gut dysbiosis, it is best to focus on low glycemic fruits (berries) and vegetables.

The optimal amount of vegetables is 9-13 servings per day with a 1/2 cup being one serving. If you are struggling with the above, you may want to consider limiting your low glycemic fruit (berries) to half cup per day or one piece of fruit per day. However, I always recommend that you consult a nutritionist to ensure that you’re eating a diet as varied as possible and meeting all of your nutrient requirements based on what is most supportive to your health and well-being.

How to do it?

The great thing about eating the rainbow is it’s easy to implement.

To eat the rainbow, try to incorporate two to three different-coloured fruits or vegetables at every meal. While you don’t have to eat every single colour every day, try to get them into your diet as much as possible and possibly throw yourself a challenge and do try to have them every day. For more Rainbow Recipe Inspo make sure to grab our Eat the Rainbow Recipe Idea https://drive.google.com/file/d/149GI7c-Td-PWb_erV4H3OjllDU69jmA5/view?usp=sharing . Here are some ideas:

Breakfast

• Better Veggie Scrambled Eggs

  2 eggs

  1/4 cup sautéed red and orange bell pepper

  1/4 cup sautéed purple onion

  1/4 cup sautéed mushroom

  5 spinach leaves

• Assemble Your Own Better Yogurt

  1/4 cup raspberries and blueberries

  1/4 cup blueberries

  3/4 cup Dairy or Non Dairy Plain Unsweetened Yogourt

  1 Tbsp. pumpkin seeds

  3 mint leaves

• Better Rainbow Nut Butter Smoothie

  1 cup raw kale

  1/4 cup frozen blueberries and strawberries

  2 Tbsp nut butter

  Sprinkle with cacao nibs

  1 cup unsweetened almond milk

Lunch or dinner

• Better Legume Buddha Bowl

  1/4 cup kidney beans, cooked

  1/4 cup green lentils, cooked

  1 cup broccoli florets, cooked

  1/2 cup Cabbage , you can also use some fermented cabbage (kraut or kimchi)

  1/4 cup chopped tomatoes

  1 Tbsp sugar free hot sauce

  1/4 cup orange bell pepper

  1/2 avocado mashed

  1 Tbsp sesame seeds

  1 Tbsp lime juice

• Better Rainbow Nicoise

  1/4 cup feta cheese

  1/2 cup cherry tomatoes

  1/2 cup cucumber

  1/2 cup beets, chopped

  3 oz tuna, low mercury

  1 Tbsp olive oil

• Better Spaghetti Rain-Bowl

  1 cup spaghetti squash, shredded

  2 Tbsp pesto

  1/2 cup cherry tomatoes

  3 meatballs

  Basil leaves

Although when possible it is best to purchase organic, local or naturally grown vegetables and fruits, check out the Environmental Working Group site (ewg.org) to get the your list of the Dirty Dozen the top 12 fruits and vegetables with the most pesticides and the Clean Fifteen the top 15 fruits and vegetables with the least amount of pesticides.

As you can see, the opportunities to include fruits and vegetables into your diet are endless. I find salads, stews, soups and one pan meals the easiest to add all the colours. If you live in an area without fresh produce year-round, try purchasing frozen fruits and vegetables for some meals. They’re equally nutritious, accessible, and affordable.

The bottom line

Remembering to eat the rainbow every day is a fun and simple way to get a variety of nutrients into your diet.

Fruits and vegetables of different colours offer various health benefits. By making sure you’re eating a few coloured fruits or vegetables at each meal, you’re setting yourself up for Better health, vitality and well-being. Now that’s Better.

In Health,

Caroline

xo

Feel Better . Live Better . Think Better . Age Better

References:

Phytonutrients as therapeutic agents https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25051278

Phytonutrients Spectrum Foods, Institute of Functional Medicine - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1T9RT1TluQKugjxVBP3EUHofdowAhrW4h/view?usp=sharing

Lycopene and Vascular Health https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31267783/

Carotenoids: How Effective Are They to Prevent Age-Related Diseases?https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6539799/