Eat A Rainbow of Fruits and Vegetables This Summer

We all know that eating more fruits and vegetables is important to good health. For some reason, people resist eating the healthy jewels found in the produce aisle at the grocery store. With a little attitude adjustment, eating fruits and vegetables, becomes easier. Think of healthy produce as eating a beautiful rainbow of color.

Summer is the perfect time to start increasing intake of fruits and vegetables. Produce stands start popping up along the roadside. Farmers markets start coming to town with their harvest of fresh, locally grown food. Roadside stands are a convenient place to purchase a healthy rainbow of food. Drive, or walk, right up to the stand, and pick out some of the finest, freshest food available.

Fruits and vegetables are rich sources of vitamins and minerals. These colorful gems are also rich in substances called phytochemicals. Phyotchemicals are what makes produce colorful. Scientists are still sorting out the synergistic actions of photochemicals. There appear to be beneficial chemical reactions that occur from food. So far, science has not been able to duplicate the healthy synergistic actions through supplements. What this means is that the whole food is a better source of whole nutrients than supplements.

It's easier than you might think to add fruits and vegetable to the diet. Dietary guidelines mention a minimum of anything from six to ten servings daily. This may sound daunting, if your idea of a vegetable serving is a leaf of lettuce on your hamburger, but it's not as hard to do as it might sound.

A serving of fruits and vegetables may be smaller than you imagine, meaning that what you may see as a single serving may actually be two servings of healthy food. A serving size is one cup of raw, or one half cup of cooked food.

Start increasing the rainbow of fruits and vegetables in your diet by adding them to meals and using them as snacks. Eventually you might start reaching for the colorful gems without even think about it.