Rainbows and St. Patrick's Day

My daughter recently asked me if my favorite colors were green and orange. My first thought was that I look awful in those colors, but when I asked her why she picked those colors, she said that orange and green are colors of lots of fruits and vegetables and I remind her to have different colors of food on her plate and in her lunch. Wow! Has she really been listening? This conversation reminded me of a very simple way to make sure one is getting a nice variety of nutrients in a meal. Make your plate look like a rainbow! While this technique won't give your the statistics like % daily value of nutrients or calories, you can feel comfortable knowing that a rainbow plate has several food groups represented and you probably have a good balance of nutrients. For example: Lycopene can be found in red foods like tomatoes or watermelon. Beta-carotene can be found in orange foods like carrots and oranges. Antioxidants are in many colors of berries (blueberries, strawberries..) Green? Broccoli, bok choy, kiwi.... contain vitamin C and fiber. These are just a few examples, and by no means a complete list. Do you get the idea? If the plates on your dinner table(or in lunch boxes) look like a rainbow, maybe the pot of gold at the end will be your good health! So, I guess I do like orange and green -- just as long as these colors are on my plate! In the spirit of St. Patrick's Day, when "we are all a little bit Irish", I challenge you to make a rainbow as part of your next meal and may your find a healthy pot of gold for you and your family! Lauri (aka Leprechaun!) P.S. http://www.mypyramid.gov/ is a great resource for finding colorful food ideas!