We all know that eating plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables is a key element to a healthy lifestyle. Fruits and vegetables supply our body with essential vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, as well as hydration our cells need to function optimally. Fruits and veggies are also an integrating part of any detox. Without them, our body doesn’t have the necessary elements to detox naturally.
But it’s not only the quantity that is important. The quality, but even more the variety is of the utmost importance. Having a varied diet is not only a way to please your taste buds. Each food we eat has their own specific nutrients and antioxidant content. Those can vary greatly from one food to another. This is exactly why very restrictive diets needs to be carefully monitored. The best way to ensure that you get all the different kinds of nutrients, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants your body needs to be healthy and to detox naturally is by eating a wide range of foods each day.
My best trick to make sure I’m eating enough fruits and vegetables with different nutrients profiles is to use colors as a guideline. Colors can be a great way to quickly identify different nutrient content among fruits and vegetables. I’m not saying that because they are the same color, an asparagus, an avocado, a leaf of Kale and a kiwifruit have the same nutrient content, but rather that choosing different colored vegetables is a quick way to get an array of different nutrients. My rule of thumb is to eat about 3 different brightly colored fruits or vegetables per meal. This way, I’m more likely to get antioxidants from each different groups, as well as different other nutrients my body needs. It’s also a great way to naturally boost my fruits and veggies intake.
As example, I could start the day with a smoothie made of mango (yellow), papaya (orange) and romaine lettuce (green), or with a bowl of quinoa with blueberries (blue) and raspberries (red) along with a glass of orange juice (orange). For lunch and dinner, I could prepare a salad, a soup, and any meal using 3 different brightly colored veggies.
Follow nature’s rainbow to help your body to detox naturally and stay healthy
Eat at least one food from 3 of the different color groups per meal, and make sure you eat at least one food from each color group each day. Here’s a quick guide to help you vary your healthy diet.
| Blue / Purple | Red/Pink |
Orange |
Yellow | Green |
| Eggplant | Bell pepper | Carrots | Bell pepper | Kale |
| Beet | Tomato | Winter squash | Summer squash | Spinach |
| Purple bell peppers | Swiss chard stems | Sweet potatoes | Yellow carrots | Swiss chard |
| Black olives | Red cabbage | Pumpkin | Golden beets | Collard greens |
| Black beans | Red lettuce | Bell peppers | Yellow string beans | Mustard greens |
| Grapes | Raddichio | Orange | Yellow split peas | Turnip tops |
| Plums | Radish | Cantaloup | Fresh Corn | Dandelion |
| Blueberries | Kidney beans | Peach | Yellow apples | Sprouts |
| Dark cherries | Apples | Nectarins | Lemon | Green beans |
| Pomegranate | Strawberries | Apricots | Banana | Asparagus |
| Elderberries | Raspberries | Papaya | Pear | Green peas |
| Açai | Cherries | Khakis | Mango | Broccoli |
| Figs | Cranberries | Pineapple | Cabbage | |
| Mangosteen | Blood orange | Turmeric | Bok Choy | |
| Blackberries | Pink grapefruit | Zucchini | ||
| Black currants | Watermelon | Bell pepper | ||
| Lettuce | ||||
| Chives | ||||
| Fresh herbs | ||||
| Celeri | ||||
| Avocado | ||||
| Green apples | ||||
| Kiwifruit | ||||
| Honeydew melon | ||||
| Lime | ||||
| Grapes |
How do you incorporate variety in your own diet? Do you eat a lot of different colored fruits and veggies each day? Does the colors of your food matters to you?