When you eat fruits and vegetables, try to eat as many colors as you can on a daily basis. If you do this, you won’t have to worry if you are getting enough vitamins, minerals, and anti-oxidants. Different colored fruits and veggies have different nutrients and you need them all.

Red Fruits and Veggies: These provide antioxidants, like Lycopene, that keep your heart healthy. Lycopene protects against free radical damage and is associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease and prostate cancer. Red fruits and veggies, especially red grapes, also contain a compound called resveratrol, which wards off dementia and can protect against strokes! Rockin’ red fruits and veggies also have a ton of vitamins, like Vitamin C, which helps prevent diseases, free radicals, and sun damage, and keeps your skin looking young!

Examples: Pink Grapefruit, Cherries, raspberries, red grapes, strawberries, red bell peppers, tomatoes, and watermelon.

Purple and Blue Fruits and Veggies: These are full of fiber, provide heart-healthy antioxidants and flavonoids, prevent clot formations, and help prevent cancer. These purple-hued powerhouses also benefit your brain! They improve brain function, coordination, and fight off memory loss! Some red, dark blue, and purple fruits and veggies, like dark grapes, blueberries, blackberries, cherries, and strawberries, also contain plant compounds called anthocyanin, which stimulates cells to use fat for fuel, instead of storing it!

Examples: Blueberries, dark cherries, blackberries, red and black grapes, plums/prunes, raisins, eggplant, and red cabbage.

Green Fruits and Veggies: These provide nutrients like calcium and iron, which promote strong bones. Iron is also famous for improving brain function and concentration, and delivering oxygen to muscles. These green goodies also contain Lutein, which prevents heart disease, stroke, and macular degeneration. They also have lots of metabolism-enhancing properties like fiber, anti-inflammatory compounds, Magnesium, and B Vitamins, which help your cells burn calories more efficiently.

Green leafy vegetables like spinach, Swiss chard, kale, and collard greens also have a ton of lipoic acid, which reduces appetite and increases energy! Meanwhile, broccoli, bok choy, cabbage, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts contain a phytonutrient called sulforaphane, which speeds up metabolism by stimulating the body to flush itself of toxins that can result in a sluggish metabolism.

Take note – foods with iron are best absorbed in conjunction with some vitamin C. So eat some red peppers with your spinach to absorb the maximum amount of nutrients!

Examples: Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, bok choy, avocados, kiwi, pears, broccoli, spinach, leafy greens, and zucchini.

Yellow and Orange Fruits and Veggies: These provide nutrients to keep the immune system healthy, such as Vitamins C and A. They are natural anti-inflammatory foods and have a lot of Beta-Carotene, which prevents certain cancers.
Examples: Mangos, cantaloupe, oranges, peaches, carrots, corn, cabbage, pumpkin, and sweet potatoes.

White Fruits and Veggies: These provide nutrients that keep the heart healthy by lowering cholesterol. White fruit and veggies also have phytochemicals that reduce inflammation in the body, protect against stomach cancer, and help detoxify the body. These white wonders are also a great source of heart-healthy potassium!
Examples: Bananas, mushrooms, white peaches, cauliflower, jicama, potatoes, onions, and garlic.

The next time you go grocery shopping, have fun picking out a colorful variety of fruits and veggies so that you can eat the rainbow! You can eat these foods fresh, frozen, and even canned.  If you buy canned veggies, go for the low-sodium varieties and for canned fruit, stay clear of labels that say “packed in syrup” because that’s just empty sugar calories.

When it comes to preparing these foods, less is more. Try not to boil your veggies as this drains them of their essential nutrients. You should eat them raw, steamed, baked, sautéed, blanched, or grilled for the most health benefits.
One more thing - did you know that tomatoes are actually more nutritious after they’ve gone through the canning process? This is because the antioxidant Lycopene, which is found in tomatoes, is condensed and enhanced during the canning process!