Color Yourself Healthier
March is National Nutrition Month (NNM). This year's NNM theme is "Eat Right With Color." This makes sense as generally, the more naturally occuring colors that you have on your plate, the more nutrients you are eating in that meal. Here are my top 10 tips for adding more color into your day!
1. Eat at least 1 fruit or vegetable serving at every snack or meal.
2. Make sure that you have at least 3 naturally occuring colors on your plate at every meal. An example of this might be: green spinach, orange sweet potato, and red strawberries.
3. Add fruit or veggies to normally neutral colored dishes like rice or pasta-try adding broccoli or aspargus to your pasta, green peas to your rice, or tomatoes to your couscous.
4.Spruce up your salad-instead of sticking to just lettuce and dressing, add berries, rinsed and drained beans or corn, and roasted red peppers!
5. Blend a colorful smoothie together with low-fat yogurt and milk, frozen fruit, and even spinach!
6. Stick with colorful dips an sauces over white ones for a flavorful and healthier choice. For example, choose tomato sauce over alfredo sauce and salsa over cheese dip.
7. Add sliced fruit like oranges and limes or frozen berries to your water to give it a colorful "spa water" look and a tasty kick.
8. Vary your colors of fruits and veggies that you eat daily to get the most variety of nutrients. For example, if you always find yourself eating baby carrots for an afternoon snack, try red bell pepper strips for change.
9. Think colorful even when it comes to dessert! Top low-fat frozen yogurt with fresh berries, grill pinneapple or peaches, or melt some chocolate chips in the microwave and use as a dip for your favorite fruits!
10. Think of fruits and vegetables the same way you think of fashion accesories-every outfit (or meal) needs a pop of color to be fantastic!
What are your favorite ways to color yourself healthy! Please share them below in my new and improved commenting system-you don't even have to create an account to comment! For more info about NNM, please visit: http://www.eatright.org/nnm/
