Color Your Plate With Flavor
by Diane Dankert, RD, Project Nutritionist
Sixteenth Street Community Health Center WIC, Milwaukee

Are your meals a colorful work of art, or are they as black and white as a 1920 movie? If your meals are generally limited to meat and potatoes, consider a change.

Fruits and vegetables have many good qualities. They come in a variety of flavors and textures. They contain vitamins, minerals and fiber. And they have another bonus—they’re colorful!

Recent nutrition research has discovered literally thousands of new substances in fruits and vegetables. These substances protect health by reducing cancer risk; maintaining heart health and good cholesterol levels; protecting vision and urinary tract health; and by promoting strong bones and teeth, healthy immune systems and healthy aging.

As it turns out, even the colors in fruits and vegetables are good for us. Each color offers different benefits, so choose a variety—the more colors, the better. To help, nutritionists have classified all fruits and vegetables into five color groups. The groups and a few of the foods they include are:

• Red: cherries, cranberries, strawberries, watermelon, tomatoes and red peppers • White: bananas, cauliflower, mushrooms, onions and white beans • Green: green grapes and apples, kiwi, avocados, broccoli, peas and spinach • Yellow/Orange: oranges, peaches, mangoes, carrots, corn, sweet potatoes and pumpkin • Blue/Purple: blueberries, plums, raisins, purple cabbage and black beans

Aim to eat fruits and vegetables from all five color groups every week. Better yet, eat several colors every day. Make it a game. Have your kids help figure out which colors your family has eaten and which colors you still need. Identify your favorite foods from each color group.

The addition of fruits and vegetables to your meals adds color, flavor and texture, plus it promotes total body health—something that no pill could ever do. For more information, visit www.pbhfoundation.org/pulse/success/campaigns/colorway.