What Colors Are On Your Plate?

Laura Coti Garrett,
Dietitian and Diabetes Educator

Look down at your meal, Take a survey of the colors on the plate and side dishes. Meat and potatoes are brown and white. Fish and rice with a side of iceberg lettuce salad are white and pale green. What's missing? Lot of nutrients, fiber and antioxidants needed for a healthy body today, and to reduce the risk of health problems tomorrow.

Foods that are rich in colors like yellow, green, red and orange have a higher nutrient density not only for the B-complex vitamins like riboflavin, thiamin, niacin, and ascorbic acid but for the antioxidants that are part of vitamin E, vitamin A and the carotenoids. Rich in color means that the color is not only on the outside of the food, but once the food is cut the color makes up the whole fruit or vegetable. Examples of foods rich in color are sweet potato, tomato, peach, cantaloupe, kale, spinach, pepper and broccoli.

What are antioxidants and what do they do in the body? Antioxidants are compounds that hold back chemical reactions with oxygen. Oxygen is a gas that the lungs breathe in every moment of every day. Oxygen is needed for the body to live. Unstable atoms can be formed from just a little of the oxygen taken into the lungs creating "free radicals." Free radicals are bad because they are constantly searching for something that will complete their structure and this upsets the normal processes that go on in the body. What are some of the things that go wrong? LDL cholesterol can be oxidized and lead to the development of atherosclerosis. Cell membranes are changed and the cells become crippled leading to a long list of potential diseases including some forms of cancer.

The antioxidants in food prevent the free radical reactions from happening without causing any problems with the cells in the body. So the colors on your plate from food provide these antioxidants and provide the body with a defense mechanism against free radicals. Although supplements can be purchased that contain antioxidants, food contains more than just these antioxidants. Foods are likely to contain other compounds that work with the antioxidants to provide the most benefit. If eating a balanced diet every day is a problem, then an antioxidant may help to achieve the oxygen balance.

When planning meals for weight management and balanced nutrition don't just count calories and fat; look at the color on the plate. A diet without color cannot protect the body from potential damage today, or the potential health consequences tomorrow?

Most health organizations are promoting "five a day" when it comes to fruits and vegetables. A serving of a vegetable or fruit is only half a cup. It is very easy to incorporate "five a day" of colorful fruits and vegetables into the meals without worrying about calories. Choose from a variety of fruits and vegetables. What colors are on your plate? Start the survey at your next meal!

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