Nutrition: Colorful Antioxidants!

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How do you know if you’re eating a healthy balance of all of the important nutrients? One giant clue that nature hands us on a silver platter is COLOR! Looking at the colors in fruits and vegetables tells us what phytonutrients are in that particular food.

Phytonutrients

Phytonutrients are the compounds that give fruits and vegetable their color and they have special health benefits for us (besides looking really pretty). Many phytonutrients function as antioxidants, protecting us from certain types of cancers and heart disease and strengthening our immune systems.

If we fill our grocery carts and plates with a rainbow of different colored fruits and veggies, we can ensure that we’re meeting all of our nutrition needs. Even if you take a multivitamin, it’s a good idea to eat plenty of fruits and vegetables -the nutrients we get directly from whole foods are better absorbed and used by the body than the vitamins and minerals from a supplement – plus vegetables provide valuable compounds that aren’t available in supplement form.

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