Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Happy National Nutrition Month!

Eat Right, Your Way, Every Day! When you use a Rainbow as a nutritional guide you are ensuring that your family are benefiting from a wide spectrum of vitamins, minerals and nutrients that are provided by each color group. Eating all five color groups every day is an excellent way to keep you and your family healthy and feeling their best! Why should you eat a rainbow? • Phytonutrients are natural chemical compounds found in all plants. They protect against disease and promote health in plants and humans. • Phytonutrients in fruits and vegetables give them their different colors and help to keep our bodies healthy. Each color group is packed with special vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients that keep you and your family thriving. • The bright colors signify the different phytonutrients that each fruit or vegetable contains, therefore using the rainbow as a guide is a great way to ensure the widest range of phytonutrients and nutrients in your diet. • Eating a variety of fruits and vegetables gives you the energy your body needs to grow, learn, play, thrive and repair. • A colorful diet is one of the best defenses against chronic diseases like hypertension, diabetes, heart failure, and cancer. So what color does what? Red-Heart healthy and gives strength support to our joints. Orange- Great source of vitamin C and it keeps our eyes healthy. Yellow- Good for the skin and digestive system. Green- Strengthens our immune system. Purple- Purple and blue foods are great for our brains. They help with memory loss, and may also keep some cancers away. Here are a list of fruits and vegetables in each color group: Red Orange Yellow Green Purple Apple Carrot Squash Lime Plum Tomatoes Yam Lemon Spinach Grapes Watermelon Sweet Potato Papaya Collard Berries Red Pepper Oranges Yellow pepper Kale Eggplant Guava Mango Corn Grapes Cabbage