Phytonutrient Loaded Healthy Nutrition for a Healthier You!

Phytonutrients are compounds found in plants. It is essential that you get enough phytonutrients every day. While you wouldn’t want to bother with percentages like 31% greens, 22% reds, 21% yellows and oranges, 14% whites, 12% purples and blues, you need to just keep that in mind: “To maximize your health, eat 1 cup of each colour every day!”*

You might find useful some examples of each, therefore you have:

Greens: green tea, green beans, arugula, snap peas, legumes, broccoli, Chinese cabbage, collards, parsley, spinach, green peas, salad greens, Brussels sprouts, chard, kale, etc.

A few ideas about how to introduce them in your diet:

• Drink green tea;
• Add kale, spinach, collards/chard, etc. to your smoothies;
• Eat a variety of salad greens;
• Make a bean salad with vinaigrette;
• Add parsley to hummus;
• Add cabbage and green beans to a stir fry;
• Include steamed broccoli;

Reds: tomato, cranberries, walnuts, persimmon, cherries, chilli powder, raspberries, grapefruit, watermelon, papaya, pomegranates, red cabbage, etc.

How to introduce them in your diet:

• Use tomato sauce for veggies, lasagne, pizza or pasta;
• Make a cranberry bread;
• Snack on watermelon or grapefruit;
• Add raspberries and walnuts to oatmeal;
• Try cherries with cocoa powder in a smoothie;
• Try red cabbage slow;
• Make chilli with tomatoes and chilli powder;
• Make tomato soup;

Yellows and oranges: cantaloupe, corn, citrus fruit, mango, squash, turmeric, pineapple, ginger, pumpkin, carrot, sweet potato, peaches, etc.

How to introduce them in your diet:

• Eat stuffed squash and pumpkin;
• Try carrot and sweet potato soup;
• Add turmeric to sauces, soups, dressings;
• Add peaches or pineapple to smoothies;
• Eat oranges, clementine, or cantaloupe;
• Make a mango salad;
• Add ginger to sauces, soups, dressings;

Whites: white tea, parsnip, garlic, onion, coconut, turnip, apple, rutabaga (root vegetable), etc.

How to introduce them in your diet:

• Add garlic and onion to soups and stir fries;
• Drink some white tea;
• Snack on apples;
• Add coconut to a smoothie;
• Make parsnip soup;
• Try mashed cauliflower instead of potato;

Purples and blues: cranberries, beets, cocoa, eggplant, blueberries, grapes, prunes, blackberries, strawberries, purple potatoes, etc.

How to introduce them in your diet:

• Snack on grapes;
• Add blueberries to oatmeal;
• Add blackberries to smoothies;
• Make eggplant curry;
• Try a roasted beet salad;
• Snack on strawberries;
• Make a cranberry oat crumble;

It looks like only 20% of us get enough of the health-promoting, disease-fighting phytonutrients in form of colourful fruit and vegetables every day. For your best health aim for at least ½ cup servings of each daily.

Phytonutrients

http://www.precisionnutrition.com/*

“Stanford Introduction to Food and Health” – Coursera

“Food as Medicine” – Future Learn