Eat Right With Color

Today's talks about 'eat right with color'.

National Nutrition Month falls halfway between winter and spring and is a good time to reflect on nutritional goals set for the New Year. This year's theme is, "Eat Right with Color", reminding consumers to eat a variety of foods everyday. Each food group in the Food Guide Pyramid represents a color bringing different nutrients to the table. When planning your daily meals remember to get foods from each color of the pyramid:

Orange (grains)

It is important to incorporate grains in a person's everyday diet. Although grains have received a bad rap in the past 10 years, they are one of the most important components in a healthy diet. Grains provide the body with one of the most readily used food for energy. Picking grains that have three grams or more of fiber per serving can help prevent against chronic diseases.

· Try 100-percent whole wheat or whole-grain bread for sandwiches.
· Find a breakfast cereal with at least three grams of fiber per serving.
· Eat at least one serving of grain with each meal of the day.

Grains are important sources of many nutrients, including dietary fiber, several B vitamins (thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, and folate), and minerals (iron, magnesium, and selenium).

Green (vegetables)

Vegetables are an important part of any diet. They are nutrient packed and low in calories. Vegetables are the lowest calorie food of all the food groups. Including vegetables as part of an overall healthy diet may protect against certain cancers, cardiovascular disease, kidney stones, type-2 diabetes and bone loss.

· Eat vegetables as a snack with your favorite dip or low-fat salad dressing.
· Cook casseroles that have added veggies right in the dish.
· Add a salad with a variety of colors to lunch or dinner.

Vegetables are important source of many nutrients, including potassium, dietary fiber, folate (folic acid), vitamin A, vitamin E, and vitamin C.

Red (fruits)

Fruits are a power food. They provide a lot of nutrients and energy without a lot of calories. Along with the vegetables and a healthy diet, fruits may also protect against certain cancers, cardiovascular disease, kidney stones, type-2 diabetes and bone loss.

· Start the day by adding fruit to a bowl of cereal.
· Make a smoothie using fresh fruit and/or 100-percent juice.
· Mix dried fruit into a trail mix.

Fruits are important sources of many nutrients, including potassium, dietary fiber, vitamin C and folate (folic acid).

Yellow (oils)

Fats and oils are an important part of any diet. Fats give satisfaction when eating and help people to remain full. Eating a very low fat diet may cause people to be hungry often and crave higher fat foods. When choosing fats, try to have the majority of them unsaturated fats which are the "good fats." Unsaturated fats can help to boost our good cholesterol and provide "essential fatty acid" and vitamin E. Examples of unsaturated fats are most oils, nuts, most fish, olives, avocado, salad dressings and mayonnaise. On the contrary, saturated fats are the "bad" fats and responsible for raising our bad cholesterol (low-density lipoprotein). Examples of saturated fats are butter, beef fat, chicken fat, pork fat, stick margarine, shortening, cream cheese and sour cream.

Blue (dairy)

Dairy is important for bone health. Typically, low-fat dairy products are recommended, but it is important to look at the overall diet of the individual. If an individual is only drinking milk a few times a day having a 2% or whole milk will not have any negative effects on the diet. Also, keep in mind, one of the important nutrients in milk is vitamin D, which is a fat soluble vitamin so without enough fat vitamin D will have a harder time being absorbed.

· Get three to four servings of dairy a day
· Add yogurt as one of the dairy servings. Pick a regular yogurt rather then one sweetened with artificial sweeteners to get the most calcium out of the product.
· Drink milk, even adding a small amount of chocolate syrup to milk can't hurt.

Dairy is a good source of protein, calcium, vitamin D and potassium.

Purple (protein)

Proteins are considered meat, poultry, fish, eggs, nuts and the seed group. Protein is important in any diet because it helps to keep people full for longer as well build and repair muscle. However, protein does contain calories so eating too much protein can contribute to a waist line increasing.

· Don't be afraid of red meat as they have vital nutrients not found in white meats. Look for lean cuts of red meat such as loin or round.
· Limit fried proteins. When proteins are fried, the calories per ounce triple.
· Work fish and seafood into meals weekly. These proteins are both low calorie and leaner options

Proteins are an excellent source of B vitamins (niacin, thiamin, riboflavin, and B6), vitamin E, iron, zinc and magnesium.
So what's the take home message? Eat a variety of food. Not one food or food group causes a person to gain weight or become unhealthy. If people eliminate any one of the colors in the pyramid, nutrient deficiencies can happen.

Info from this site.