Eat the rainbow!

We can only eat so much in a day, no matter how healthy the food is. One very simple way to make sure you get a variety of nutrients for optimum fitness? Eat the rainbow!

What eat the rainbow means is to choose a variety of foods of different colors, textures and tastes throughout the day. This will help ensure that you will hit all the nutrient groups during the course of several days and you will not have to worry or fuss about what you are eating.

Practicals:

A good rule of thumb when planning and serving meals is that ¼ of your plate should be your protein. Most people think meat or fish when they think about protein, but don't forget beans and soy products and high protein grains like quinoa. Another ¼ of your plate should be a whole grain carbohydrate. Go beyond bread, rice and pasta and branch out to barley, kasha, bulgur and millet. The rest of your plate should be devoted to vegetables and fruit.

Consider all the different colors that produce comes in: the deep green of broccoli, green beans, spinach, kale and other leafy vegetables, orange vegetables like squash and carrots, red bell peppers, tomatoes and beets, purple eggplants, blueberries and blackberries and white cauliflower. Each of these foods offer a complex mix of macro and micronutrients and taking care to eat a variety will give you the most optimal nutrition.

One of the great things about "eat the rainbow" is that it's a fun concept that even children can appreciate and put into action. There are no complicated formulas or timetables, you simply to eat as many colors as possible during the day, choosing from an extremely wide variety of foods that are available.

James F. Mitchell
562-253-3502