Eating Rainbow??? – Colour your meal plate with all the seven colours.
What is the hype?
How Bizarre it sounds to eat a rainbow?
Rainbows are amazing to look at not just between the clouds but also on your dining table.
According to Dr. Deanna Minich, (American Nutrition Association); eating a rainbow diet is a holistic approach for your healthy future through foods.
What is a Rainbow Diet?
- Each colour in the rainbow diet represents a certain type of naturally occurring antioxidants.
- It contains all the essential macro and micro nutrients required by the body. Hence, it is safe to consume them lifelong.
- At its hearts, Rainbow diet is eating a varied diet rich in fruits and vegetables.
Let’s deep dive into the colours!!!
- RED
- Nutrients: flavonoids, lycopene, vitamin C, folate.
- Supports: heart health and memory.
- Foods: apples, red onion, tomatoes, strawberries, watermelon, red pepper, cherries.
- Orange/Yellow
- Nutrients: Beta carotene, vitamin A, vitamin C.
- Supports: eyes, heart health and immune function.
- Foods: musk melon, carrots, lemons, mangoes, oranges, papaya, peaches, pineapples, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, yellow peppers.
- Green
- Nutrients: chlorophyll, vitamin K, carotenoids, omega-3-fatty acids,
- Supports: healthy bones, teeth and eyes.
- Foods: asparagus, broccoli, cabbage, cucumber, bitter gourd, bottle gourd, grapes, green beans, green peppers, peas, spinach.
- Blue/Purple
- Nutrients: anthocyanin
- Supports: memory and healthy aging
- Foods: dark beans, eggplants, blueberries, blackcurrants, beets, figs.
- White
- Nutrients: flavonoids
- Supports: heart health and levels of cholesterol
- Foods: ginger, onions, mushrooms, garlics.
Not all antioxidants have colours but eating a colourful range of foods helps you get them all.
BENEFITS FOR KIDS
Rainbow diet is a great immunity booster among pre-schoolers!
- It is amazing how many parents say they can't get their kids to eat vegetables, and it then turns out that at least one parent doesn't either eat them either.
- Rainbow diet is a great way of getting rid of this habit and introducing your kids to new fruits and vegetables.
- Give each week a colour and plan out the menu.
- Make up cool name for veggies like broccoli it will scare your kids from the food less. For example, power tree instead of broccoli.
- Let them arrange the plate themselves by adding their favourite colour to the plate.
Rainbow diet will improve and maintain not just your health but your energy levels and wellness in general.
Go place your rainbow on the plate!!!