Kids & Company Blog

Flavours of the Rainbow

Eating colourful foods are not only delicious but also nutritious! Consuming a variety of foods can ensure you are getting all of the wonderful nutrients your body needs. Eating all the colours of the rainbow is a great way to make sure you get tons of healthy vitamins and minerals for you and your family. Canada’s food guide recommends eating at least one dark green and one orange vegetable each day, but the other colours also have tons to offer! Pigments in food contain important components called phytochemicals that give our fruits and veggies many of their important health benefits. Every colour of the rainbow protects and enhances our bodies in a different way!

RED

Tomatoes, watermelon, strawberries, and red peppers are just some of the beautiful red foods that contain lycopene. This compound is found most abundantly in tomatoes, especially when they are cooked! Lycopene is one of the most powerful antioxidants which protect all of the little cells in our bodies from damage. Another benefit of consuming these delicious red foods is they are great for your heart!

ORANGE

Orange foods including carrots, sweet potato and oranges contain the incredibly healthy beta-carotene pigment! This component gives some of our favourite orange and yellow foods their wonderful colour and even better health benefits. This lovely pigment gets converted to vitamin A in our bodies which helps promote a strong immune system, awesome vision and a healthy brain.

GREEN

Mighty greens! There are so many great benefits of consuming delicious green veggies. Spinach, kale, green peppers, and broccoli are great sources of the vibrant green pigment called chlorophyll. This pigment has proven many benefits such as keeping our blood clean and healthy, detoxifying our bodies and it even has antimicrobial properties!

Challenge your kids to eat every colour of the rainbow each day! Variety is key when looking to ensure your family consumes enough of each nutrient. Great ways to up your kiddies fruit and veggie intake is to try cutting them into fun shapes or add ground up veggies to things like tomato sauce or chili! Enjoy tasting the flavours of the rainbow and experience the great benefits a colourful diet can have on your health!

Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter @kidcochildcare and on Instagram @cheflisaruscica! 

Cheers,

Chef Lisa Ruscica

Chief Food Ambassador

Posted on: Wednesday June 21st, 2017

Posted by: Lisa Ruscica