An advertising phrase you may have heard goes along the lines of eat the colorful spectrum. (And yes, I’m totally avoiding the specific wording!)
I can totally work with that concept, as long as it’s more about fruits and vegetables and less about high-fructose corn syrup.
Michael Pollan’s food rule 25 is eat your colors. There’s an old wives’ tale about a healthy plate of food featuring multiple colors. As it turns out there’s good science to it! Colorful fruits and vegetables frequently contain valuable quantities of phytochemicals. Carrots and spinach and peppers, oh my!
Let’s look at a short list of colorful veggies and the nutrients they provide, shall we?
Beets provide vitamin B. Broccoli, peas, peppers, potatoes, and tomatoes provide vitamin C (among other things). Carrots and sweet potatoes supply beta-carotene. Peas, spinach, potatoes, and sweet potatoes provide iron.
Some of these are better cooked, and some are better raw, as shown in the following brief list:
Beets (either cooked or raw)
Vitamin B (group)
Broccoli (either)
Calcium
Vitamin C
Carrots (either)
Beta-carotene
Vitamin A
Peas (either)
Iron
Vitamin C
Peppers (either)
Vitamin A
Vitamin C
Potatoes (cooked)
Iron
Vitamin C
Spinach (either)
Calcium
Iron
Sweet Potatoes (cooked)
Beta-carotene
Iron
Tomatoes (either)
Vitamin C
Let’s not leave fruit out of the conversation, either! (Although, arguably, tomatoes are fruit. I still won’t put them in a fruit salad!)
Apples
Vitamin C
Potassium
Bananas
Potassium
Vitamin B-6
Blackberries
Vitamin C
Dietary fiber
Blueberries
Vitamin C
Dietary fiber
Cherries
Vitamin A
Vitamin C
Dates
Magnesium
Dietary fiber
Grapefruit
Vitamin A
Vitamin C
Oranges
Vitamin C
Pears
Vitamin C
Dietary fiber
Raspberries
Vitamin C
Dietary fiber
Strawberries
Vitamin C
Potassium
On these cold, cold days, simply thinking about colorful fruits and vegetables, harvested on a sunny, warm day makes me happy! While getting locally grown produce is always best, I’m grateful for grocery stores so that even during the winter I can have an orange, an apple, spinach, and colorful peppers, just to name a few.
What colorful spectrum will adorn your dinner plate tonight?
Cheers! Here’s to your health!