Eat The Rainbow

Eating the rainbow is one of the easiest ways to ensure optimal health. Fruits and vegetables and their wide variety of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and phytochemicals have amazing healing properties!

In our fast-passed culture where eating on the go is the standard, many of us are sorely lacking in getting our daily dose of color. That lack introduces deficiencies in our bodies and invites inflammation and disease. Our microbiome loses diversity and weakens thereby allowing further disruption in our health.

Here are 5 simple ways to ensure you’re getting your daily dose of color.

1. Keep a food journal. I insist that my clients use a daily food journal to track what they are eating. Every five days they take out some colored pencils and work back through their journals coloring their foods (i.e. carrot=orange, broccoli=green, blueberries=blue.) This is a super simple way to literally see where you need to add some color.
2. Drink smoothies. My favorite smoothies are prepared in my high-powered blender and are chock-full of fruits and vegetables along with all their fiber. I can easily get 5 servings of fruits and vegetable in one smoothie!
3. Eat 1 BIG salad every day. Choose at least 3 kinds of greens then add your favorite mix-in and toppers. Don’t be afraid to try different kinds of greens! Think out of the box and explore butter lettuce, Belgian endive, dandelion, or watercress. For your mix-ins try beets, fennel, jicama, or sprouts. Then for the toppers add fresh herbs like chives, parsley or cilantro and finish with some seeds like, raw sunflower, pumpkin or sesame.
4. Pack fruits and vegetables for snacking throughout the day. Having an apple, banana, or a small jar of mixed berries to go alongside a healthy protein like yogurt, nut butter, or seed crackers is a great way to stay out of the drive through! Or, a simple hummus with celery sticks, carrot sticks, and radishes is another great option. You’ll feel more energized throughout the day without having the sluggish feelings from a sugary snack.
5. Plan on 2 veggie packed side dishes at dinner. I don’t know about you, but if I’m not careful it’s way too easy to fall into the habit of not eating extra vegetables at dinner. I get focused on the main dish and then I putter out and miss a great opportunity to increase the nutritional content of the meal. Roasting several kinds of vegetables in the oven is an easy no-hassle side, or steaming broccoli and cauliflower and finishing it simply with some extra-virgin olive oil, salt and pepper is a snap.