Color Your Way to Daily Health

It’s important that we eat plenty of different fruits and vegetables every day . Diets rich in
fruits and vegetables may reduce the risk of cancer and other chronic diseases. Fruits and
vegetables provide essential vitamins and minerals, fiber, and other substances that are
important for good health. Most fruits and vegetables are naturally low in fat and calories
and are filling.

You’ve probably heard about the 5 A Day for Better Health program. It provides easy
ways to add more fruits and vegetables into your daily eating patterns. It’s vital that we
eat a wide variety of colorful orange/yellow, red, green, white, and blue/purple vegetables
and fruit every day. By eating vegetables and fruit from each color group, you will
benefit from the essential vitamins, minerals, and fiber that each color group has to offer
alone and in combination.

There’s several different yet simple ways to start incorporating vegetables and fruit into
your familiar and favorite meals. You can begin your day with 100 percent fruit or
vegetable juice, slice bananas or strawberries on top of your cereal, or have a salad with
lunch and an apple for an afternoon snack. Include a vegetable with dinner and you
already have about 5 cups of fruits and vegetables. You may even try adding a piece of
fruit for a snack or an extra vegetable at dinner.

Don’t be afraid to try something new to increase your vegetable and fruit intake. There
are so many choices when selecting fruits and vegetables. Kiwifruit, asparagus, and
mango may become your new favorite. Keep things fresh and interesting by combining
fruits and vegetables of different flavors and colors, like red grapes with pineapple
chunks, or cucumbers and red peppers.

Get in the habit of keeping fruits and vegetables visible and easily accessible – you’ll
tend to eat them more. Store cut and cleaned produce at eye-level in the refrigerator, or
keep a big colorful bowl of fruit on the table.

BEAUTIFUL COLORS = DELICIOUS HEALTHY FOOD –