Eating Colorfully
By Cheryl Tallman and Joan Ahlers It's essential to eat a colorful variety of fruits and vegetables every day and it can be a lot of fun too! Colorful fruits and vegetables provide a wide range of vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals your body needs to maintain good health and energy levels. Each color range provides your body with different nutrients, so it is important to eat a rainbow of color! Here are five major colors and example foods:
Blue/Purple: Blueberries, Purple grapes, Plums, Purple cabbage, Eggplant and Purple peppers
Green: Avocados, Green apples, Honeydew, Kiwifruit, Artichokes, Asparagus, Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, Cucumbers, Leeks and Peas
White: Bananas, Brown pears, White peaches, Cauliflower, Garlic, Ginger, Jicama, Mushrooms, Parsnips, Potatoes and White Corn
Yellow/Orange: Apricots, Cantaloupe, Oranges, Papayas, Pineapples, , Butternut squash, Carrots, Yellow summer squash and Sweet potatoes.
Red: Red apples, Cherries, Cranberries, Pomegranates, Strawberries, Red peppers, Radishes, Radicchio, and Tomatoes.
Make it fun while shopping by having the kids pick out different colored fruits and vegetables. At mealtimes, identify the colors and name the foods. Colorful eating is an easy concept to teach small children and it will go a long way to developing their healthy eating habits.
About the authors: Cheryl Tallman and Joan Ahlers are sisters, the mothers of five children and founders of Fresh Baby, creators or products such as homemade baby food kits, baby food cookbooks, baby food and breast milk storage trays, breastfeeding reminders, and child development diaries (
www.FreshBaby.com). Visit them online at
www.FreshBaby.com and subscribe to their Fresh Ideas newsletter to get monthly ideas, tips and activities for developing your family's healthy eating habits! Permission granted for use on DrLaura.com.
