Color Your Way to Daily Health
It’s
important that we eat plenty of different fruits and vegetables every
day
. Diets rich in fruits and vegetables
may reduce the risk of cancer and other chronic diseases. Fruits and
vegetables provide essential vitamins and minerals, fiber, and other
substances that are important for good health. Most fruits and
vegetables are naturally low in fat and calories and are filling.
You’ve
probably heard about the 5 A Day for Better Health program.
It provides easy ways to add more fruits and vegetables into your
daily eating patterns.
It’s vital that we eat a wide variety of
colorful orange/yellow, red, green, white, and blue/purple vegetables
and fruit every day. By eating vegetables and fruit from each color
group, you will benefit from the essential vitamins, minerals, and
fiber that each color group has to offer alone and in combination.
There’s
several different yet simple ways to start incorporating vegetables
and fruit into your familiar and favorite meals. You can begin your
day with 100 percent fruit or vegetable juice, slice bananas or
strawberries on top of your cereal, or have a salad with lunch and an
apple for an afternoon snack. Include a vegetable with dinner and you
already have about 5 cups of fruits and vegetables.
You may even try
adding a piece of fruit for a snack or an extra vegetable at dinner.
Don’t
be afraid to try something new to increase your vegetable and fruit
intake. There are so many choices when selecting fruits and
vegetables. Kiwifruit, asparagus, and mango may become your new
favorite.
Keep things fresh and interesting by combining fruits and
vegetables of different flavors and colors, like red grapes with
pineapple chunks, or cucumbers and red peppers.
Get
in the habit of keeping fruits and vegetables visible and easily
accessible – you’ll tend to eat them more. Store cut and cleaned
produce at eye-level in the refrigerator, or keep a big colorful bowl
of fruit on the table.
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