Eat The Rainbow

 

As a child I can remember being told eat your carrots, they are good for your eyes.  Cartoons told us eat your spinach and you will grow big and strong like popeye, then comes to my mind the jolly green giant commercials.  Its funny how we dismiss these things from our mind thinking that was adults making things up to get us to eat our vegetables.

 

 

Well fast forward a few decades and I found myself sitting in a health and wellness class with Mrs. Teressa Botts Honeycutt from the University of Tennessee Scott County Extension office in Huntsville, telling us all the health benefits from eating foods with a variety of colors.

RED

 

  • A healthy heart
  • Memory function
  • A lower risk of some cancers
  • Urinary tract health

 

     Blue/Purple

  • A lower risk of some cancers
  • Urinary tract health
  • Memory function
  • Healthy aging

 

 

 

 

     Yellow/Orange

  • A healthy heart
  • vision health
  • A healthy immune system
  • A lower risk of some cancers

 

 

 

Green

  • A lower risk of some cancers
  • Vision health
  • strong bones and teeth

 

 

 

 

White

  • Heart health
  • Maintain healthy cholesterol levels
  • A lower risk of some cancers

 

 

 

 

This day Teressa shared with us a good way to get the blues and purples in our diet.  It was mindbogglingly simple.

Vanilla Yogurt topped with cherrios, blackberries and blueberries  It was that simple.

At times I think we confuse ourselves with thinking eating healthy is complicated or time consuming.

 

 

 

This class lasted over a period of 4 weeks.  Teressa shared many other simple ways to start making small changes in our diet that can have big impact on our health.