Friday, October 2, 2009

Color Yourself Healthy

In order to be healthy, you need to eat a rainbow! No, I'm talking about Skittles. I'm talking about fruits and vegetables! In my last post, I appealed to your vanity. Now I'm going to appeal to your desire to be your healthiest self.

You may not know that with fruits and vegetables, each color is associated with certain nutrients that have specific functions in the body.

Blue/Purple: important for urinary tract health, memory function, healthy aging, and a lower risk of some cancers
Green: aid in vision health and strong bones and teeth
White: assist in heart health and maintaining healthy cholesterol levels
Yellow/Orange: needed for heart health, vision health, and a healthy immune system
Red: important for heart health, memory function and urinary tract health

An added bonus is that eating plants rich in fruits and vegetables may reduce the risk of some types of cancer and other chronic diseases.

So, if you are not nourishing yourself with all of the colors, how can your body function optimally? This week notice how many fruits and vegetables you are eating (goal is 2 cups of fruit and 3 cups of veggies) and the colors you consume.

2 comments:

  1. Thank you for saying how much we should be eating. When I've seen 5 servings, I never knew what they considered one serving to be.

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  2. This is hard for me. I'm getting better with veggies (trying more, getting a taste for them), but fruits are harder. I only like a few (so I get bored), I never "want" or "crave" them (I just eat them because I'm supposed to). Is that 2 cups fruit/3 cups veggies per day? I've got work to do.

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