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Eating With Color by Kara Becker, MS, RD, LDN, CNSC

| Add Colorful Fruits and Vegetables | Follow the Colors of MyPlate | How Else Can I Add More Color?

A balanced diet should include a colorful variety of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, and dairy. Varying the color and foods in your diet will ensure that you are getting all of the nutrients that you need to stay healthy. There are two easy ways to do this:

Adding colorful fruits and vegetables
Following the colors of MyPlate

Add Colorful Fruits and Vegetables

An easy way to add color to your diet is to include a variety of fruits and vegetables. Produce tastes best and has the most nutrients when it is in season, and most of these foods are low-calorie, low-fat, and low-sodium.

Color	Fruits	Veggies
Green	Avocado, apples, grapes, honeydew, kiwi	Asparagus, broccoli, green peppers, leafy greens
Orange and deep yellow	Apricot, cantaloupe, mango, pineapple	Carrots, yellow pepper, sweet potatoes, butternut squash
Purple and blue	Blackberries, blueberries, plums, raisins	Eggplant, purple cabbage, purple-fleshed potato
Red	Cherries, cranberries, pomegranate, strawberries	Beets, red peppers, rhubarb, tomatoes
White, tan, and brown	Banana, brown pear, dates, white peaches	Cauliflower, mushrooms, onions, turnips, white corn

Are you ready to brighten your next meal? Here are some quick tips!

Color	Food Ideas
Green	Add broccoli, spinach, or green peppers to pizza. Add sliced apple to a salad.
Orange and deep yellow	Bake your own sweet potato fries. Use yellow pepper instead of green pepper in recipes.
Purple and blue	Add blueberries to cereal, oatmeal, or yogurt.
Red	Add strawberries to cereal, oatmeal, or yogurt. Add red peppers and tomatoes to an omelet or scrambled eggs.
White, tan, and brown	Add banana slices to a peanut butter sandwich. Try mashed parsnips and/or turnips instead of mashed potatoes.

Follow the Colors of MyPlate

MyPyramid logo Another way to vary the color in your diet is to use the colors of MyPlate as a guide for your food choices every day. Each food group in MyPlate corresponds to a color:

Color	Food Group	Goal	How to Reach Your Goal	Tips
Orange	Grains	Varies by age, gender, and amount of physical activity	At least half of your daily grain intake should come from whole grains.	Look for labels that say “100% whole grain.”
Green	Vegetables	Aim for about 2½ cups per day	Vegetables are organized into subgroups based on nutrient content, such as dark green, orange, dry beans and peas, and starchy veggies.	Try to eat a variety of vegetables.
Red	Fruits	Aim for about 2 cups per day	Any fruit or 100% fruit juice is considered part of fruit group.	Try to eat a variety of fruit.
Blue	Dairy	Aim for about 3 cups (720 milliliters [ml]) per day.	1 cup = 1 cup (240 ml) milk or yogurt, 1½ ounces (42 grams [g]) natural cheese, 2 ounces (56 g) processed cheese	Most dairy choices should be fat-free or low-fat.
Purple	Protein	Aim for 5-6 ounce (140-168 g) equivalents per day	1 ounce equivalent = 1 ounce (28 g) meat, poultry, or fish; ¼ cup cooked dry beans; 1 tablespoon (15 ml) peanut butter; ½ ounce (14 g) nuts or seeds	Choose lean protein foods.

If keeping track of the cups and ounces of foods you need to eat every day is confusing or difficult, focus on these four things when preparing a meal:

Make half your plate fruits and vegetables.
Make at least half your grains whole grains.
Use fat-free or low-fat (1%) milk.
Eat lean protein foods.

Remembering these things is easier than remembering measurements, and will ensure that you are getting the right amount of good foods in your diet every day.

How Else Can I Add More Color?

Join a local Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). These programs allow you to eat in color and in season. Some farms offer quarter-share or half-share options, fruit shares, and eggs. You can find a participating farm near you on the Local Harvest website (http://www.localharvest.org/).
Buy goods at a farmer’s market. Some farms participate in winter markets so you can buy fresh, local produce all year.
Start a home garden. It is economical and a great way to get kids involved.

RESOURCES:

Dietary Guidelines.gov http://www.dietaryguidelines.gov/
MyPlate http://www.choosemyplate.gov/

CANADIAN RESOURCES:

Canadian Council on Food and Nutrition http://www.ccfn.ca/
Dietitians of Canada http://www.dietitians.ca/

References:

American Dietetic Association website. Available at: http://www.eatright.org/NNM. Accessed May 2, 2011.
Dairy. United States Department of Agriculture, Dietary Guidelines for Americans website. Available at: http://www.choosemyplate.gov/. Accessed June 15, 2011.
Fruits. United States Department of Agriculture, Dietary Guidelines for Americans website. Available at: http://www.choosemyplate.gov/. Accessed June 15, 2011.
Grains. United States Department of Agriculture, Dietary Guidelines for Americans website. Available at: http://www.choosemyplate.gov/. Accessed June 15, 2011.
Protein foods. United States Department of Agriculture, Dietary Guidelines for Americans website. Available at: http://www.choosemyplate.gov/. Accessed June 15, 2011.
United States Department of Agriculture, Dietary Guidelines for Americans website. Available at: http://www.dietaryguidelines.gov. Accessed May 2, 2011.
United States Department of Agriculture, ChooseMyPlate.gov website. Available at: http://www.choosemyplate.gov/. Accessed June 15, 2011.
Vegetables. United States Department of Agriculture, Dietary Guidelines for Americans website. Available at: http://www.choosemyplate.gov/. Accessed June 15, 2011.

Last reviewed May 2011 by Maria Adams, MS, MPH, RD

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