What color is your food? Pale yellow, brown, or white? Or green, red, or orange?
The more colorful the food you eat (natural food, not fruit loops or jelly beans) the more nutritious it is. Does your food look dead and lifeless? Or alive and vibrant? Health Tips for Weight Loss #3: Eat more color.
Core Performance founder Mark Verstegen is fond of saying—“Eat a rainbow of colors often.” Eating a variety of colorful food provides vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants to nourish your body that can’t be replicated in a supplement.
“Every meal should include colorful fruits and vegetables because of their fiber and nutrient densities,” says Verstegen. “Proteins and carbs will most likely be brown, beige, or white. Add veggies like red and green peppers, carrots, and green beans to get your color quotient up.”
Here are some examples for red foods and the benefit of that food to the health of your body.
Red Foods
Packed with phytochemicals like lycopene and anthocyanins, red foods help increase heart and circulatory health, improve memory, support urinary tract health, and decrease the risk of certain types of cancers. Try these red foods:
Cherries – This delicious fruit is high in antioxidants that have been shown to protect against heart disease, diabetes, and arthritis. A rich source of antioxidants, tart cherries also help reduce inflammation in the body and relieve pain from gout and arthritis.
Cranberries – High in antioxidants and proanthocyanidins, cranberries have been shown to prevent bacteria from adhering to the urinary tract wall and reduce inflammation in the body.
Red bell peppers – Bell peppers are low in calories and fat and high in vitamin C and fiber. Eating bell peppers has been linked to increased immunity, improved digestion, lower cholesterol, and a decreased risk of colon cancer.
Tomatoes – High in the antioxidant lycopene, tomatoes have been shown to help reduce damage to our cells and decrease the risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
Beets – This low calorie veggie is high in fiber, folate, and vitamins A, C, and K. Beets have been shown to optimize digestive health, decrease inflammation, and help fight heart disease.
The more alive it is (fresh) the better as well. Wanting to turn over a new leaf, start with the one on your plate.
Health tips for weight loss #3
Eat mostly colorful foods (vegetables and fruits)
Dallas Hypnotist Valerie Grimes provides a fun and easy approach to creating new healthy habits for losing weight, sleeping better, dealing with stress and getting more exercise. She created hypnosis programs for each of these areas to assist her clients in Turning Over A New Leaf.