A rainbow of fruits and veggies
The May issue of Fitness is great. It starts out with an article about why women should strive for healthy vs. thin, and the model on page 29 actually looks like a real person. They are also soliciting stories from healthy women sizes 10-16, to show that full-figured can still mean healthy, fit, and sexy. One of my favorite articles, though, is on page 77. Entitled “Color Your Diet Healthy,” it discusses why produce comes in a wide range of colors, as well as the health benefits associated with each hue. Here’s a quick list of recommended foods in each color:Green: kiwi, broccoli, romaine lettuce, kale, spinach, brussels sprouts, cabbage, honeydew, avocado.Red: tomatoes, red onions, watermelon, red grapes, radishes, cranberries, strawberries, red bell peppers.Yellow: yellow bell peppers, grapefruit, pineapple, lemons, squash, yellow corn.Orange: carrots, apricots, mangoes, oranges, pumpkin, cantaloupe.Blue: blueberries.Purple: plums, eggplant, blackberries, purple grapes, raisins, prunes, figs, purple onions.White: jicama, pears, bananas, cauliflower, mushrooms, onions, garlic.I’m always a little concerned about how well-rounded my diet is, but this alleviated some fears. I regularly eat at least one food from each group except blue. I don’t like blueberries. To me they are bland and flavorless, but I guess I need to keep trying. I also need to up my intake of purple foods. Overall, though, I’m not doing too badly.
