You can keep your family healthy by adding color and taste to every meal. Sometimes we tend to eat the same or similar things over and over again and slip into so-called ‘food ruts’. One way to switch things up and encourage healthier food choices is by simply incorporating a variety of colors into your family’s meals.
Different colored fruits and vegetables provide distinct – and equally important – vitamins and minerals that your body needs to be healthy. The foods listed below are nutrition powerhouses that your family will love.
Green produce indicates antioxidant potential and may help promote healthy vision, lower blood pressure, regulate the digestive tract, and boost immune system activity.
- Fruits: avocado, apples, grapes, pears, honeydew, kiwi and lime
- Vegetables: artichoke, asparagus, broccoli, green beans, green peppers and leafy greens such as spinach
Orange and deep yellow fruits and vegetables contain nutrients that promote healthy vision and immunity, promote collagen formation and healthy joints, work with calcium to build healthy bones, and reduce the risk of some cancers.
- Fruits: apricot, cantaloupe, grapefruit, mango, papaya, peach, oranges and pineapple
- Vegetables: carrots, yellow pepper, yellow corn and sweet potatoes
Purple and blue options are loaded with antioxidants and can improve memory, mineral absorption and urinary tract health, and may reduce cancer risks in the digestive tract.
- Fruits: blackberries, blueberries, plums and raisins
- Vegetables: eggplant, purple cabbage and purple-fleshed potato
Red indicates produce that may help maintain a healthy heart by lowering blood pressure and reducing LDL cholesterol levels, as well as improve vision and immunity.
- Fruits: cherries, cranberries, pomegranate, red/pink grapefruit, red grapes, strawberries and watermelon
- Vegetables: beets, red onions, red peppers, red potatoes, rhubarb and tomatoes
White, tan and brown foods sometimes contain nutrients that may promote heart health, reduce cancer risks, and stimulate a healthy GI tract.
- Fruits: banana, brown pear, dates and white peaches
- Vegetables: cauliflower, mushrooms, onions, parsnips, turnips, white-fleshed potato and white corn
- Probiotic: cultured buttermilk, kefir and yogurt