Happy National Nutrition Month: Eat Right With Color

As the end of March approaches, I realize that I almost missed the opportunity to wish you a Happy National Nutrition Month! Annually, dietitians and nutrition professionals nationwide celebrate this month as an opportunity to promote healthy eating. This year's theme is "Eat Right With Color" and I love it!

Food is so interesting. It's one of the few things that ALL people have in common. We all eat. But it's also one of the most individual things in life. From culture to culture and place to place, foods, their preparation, and rituals around foods are unique. It's one area of life that I never learn enough about and never grow tired of exploring. The colors are another thing that makes foods wonderfully different. The varying colors actually indicate different phytochemicals (really good-for-you plant chemicals!) that are in the foods. Many of these are powerful at fighting cancer and heart disease (like sulphoraphane, resveratrol and more). Eating different colored foods actually helps you get a wider variety of nutrients.

So...your assignment for the rest of this month and on - should you choose to accept it - is to see how many different colors of foods you can eat each day! Artificial colors don't count!! If you need some ideas, here are some of my favorite foods in various color groups:

• Blue/Purple: Blueberries, Eggplant, Purple/Black Plums
• Red: Red Peppers, Apples, Red Grapes, Strawberries
  
• Green: Broccoli, Rapini, Kale, Spinach, Swiss Chard, Kiwi
  
• Yellow: Corn, Squash, Pineapple, Yellow Wax Beans
  
• White: Mushrooms, Russet Potatoes (not fried!), Cauliflower
  
• Orange: Sweet Potatoes, Butternut Squash, Carrots, Mango
  

Try some new things - don't be afraid! Spend some time in the produce section of your supermarket or go to a farmer's market and browse. Choose colorful foods and you will reap the benefits now and in the future!