Eating Your Way Through The Rainbow

When it comes to a healthy diet, variety really is the spice of life. This is of even greater importance when you are trying to lose weight. We’ve all heard/read/seen that for optimum health and vitality, we should be including 5 serves of veggies in our diets each and everyday.
This is great advice but can sometimes be hard to follow. We usually fare well when it comes to our two serves of fruit, but struggle to move beyond 2-3 serves of veggies.
The primary reason for this usually lies in the lack of variety we offer ourselves and serve up on our plates. There’s usually a whole lot of green with a splash of red or orange but that’s about it. And it can look pretty uninspiring.
One of our greatest senses when it comes to eating is our eyes. What we see in front of us triggers an immediate reaction and, depending on your tastes and how appealing your plate is, that reaction will be positive or negative. 
Eating your way through the rainbow might sound like a strange idea but it basically relates to the inclusion of as many colourful veggies as you can manage in your diet. While your staples like lettuce, spinach, tomatoes and potatoes remain, adding a whole range of other, brightly coloured options is not only creates a great visual, it also has a load of health and weight loss benefits.
The colour of different fruit and veggies is usually directly linked to the type of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants present in that particular food. Red and pink foods, like tomatoes, watermelon and grapefruit, for example, are rich in the antioxidant lycopene which is reported to boost heart health and general body vitality.
Green veggies and fruits are given that hue by the presence of chlorophyll which helps transform the suns rays into energy. By eating our greens, we are able to take advantage of all that goodness, along with potent vitamins and antioxidants.
Each different coloured group of fruit and veggies will contain different but equally beneficial health properties, which is why eating your way through the rainbow is such a good idea. It means that we don’t miss out on any of the amazing ingredients that fresh produce has to offer.
Below are some suggestions for ways to ‘eat your way through the rainbow’.

• Red – Tomatoes, capsicum, apples, strawberries, rhubarb
• Yellow – Squash, lemons, capsicum, corn
• Pink – Watermelon, grapefruit, guava
• Blue – Blueberries, grapes
• Purple – Grapes, plums, purple carrots, eggplant
• Orange – Sweet potato, pumpkin, carrots, oranges, mandarins
• Green – Leafy greens, brussel sprouts, apples