Eat a Rainbow! Wait...What?

No, seriously;

Eat a Rainbow! 

If that sounds like an insult or a convoluted comment on Oz, check out this site. Since a foods color (natural, whole foods; skittles and other dye laden concoctions don’t count) is generally indicative of the types of nutrients they have, the larger variety of colors you eat, the better.  While you can judge how broad a spectrum you’re getting just by looking at your plate, there are some great lists out there to help you analyze your diet, and make it easier to find foods that will fill in your color gaps. This site lists food in each color, and links to info on how to choose and store the fruit or vegetable in question, definitely a great resource for taking the fear factor out of trying new or unfamiliar produce.

The meal in the previous post has a lot of beige in it, but little in the way of simple refined carbohydrates. If you’ve ever heard people hating on beige foods (Jamie Oliver comes to mind) they’re usually talking about the fried foods, refined, processed flour and sugar that tend to make up a lot of the American diet, not beige whole foods. 

The beige refined carbohydrates are broken down by the body quickly, causing a spike in blood sugar and energy, followed by a crash in both. Over consumption of these carbs is "associated with a higher incidence of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and even breast cancer. According to the World Health Organization, sugars and other simple carbohydrates are a leading factor in the worldwide obesity epidemic." (How To Think Thin) The refined simple carbohydrates we're talking about shouldn't be confused with good simple carbs though, which are naturally found in fruits and some vegetables. In this form, the simple carbs come with lots of fiber, which slows digestion, and all the nutrients (think vitamin C in oranges or potassium in bananas) found in the fruit.

Complex carbohydrates are mostly in whole grains, beans, seeds, nuts and starchy vegetables (they're also found in fruits and other vegetables along side their simpler sibling). They take longer for your body to break down which keeps blood sugars stable, they provide the energy your body and brain needs to function, and keep you feeling satisfied after you've eaten.

If you need even more persuading, here’s the nutritional shortlist for the main ingredients in Aloo Tikki with Nut Cream and Sweet & Sour Cabbage. 

Chickpeas pack copper, folate (vitamin B9), manganese, calcium, iron, and protein into each and every bean. 

Cabbage rocks vitamin C, vitamin K, folate (vitamin B9), potassium, manganese, vitamin A, pyridoxine (vitamin B6), thiamin (vitamin B1), calcium, iron and magnesium. 

Potatoes have vitamin C, pyridoxine (vitamin B6), iron, potassium, copper, and manganese. 

Almonds contribute protein, calcium, iron, riboflavin (vitamin B2), magnesium, manganese, and are a very good source of vitamin E. 

Cashews round out the bunch with protein, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, copper and manganese. 

(It should be noted that, as plant-based foods, they all contribute dietary fiber, which helps regulate blood sugar, makes you feel fuller, lowers cholesterol, aids in the absorption of some vitamins and minerals, may reduce risk of colorectal cancer, and as we all know.... speeds foods passage through the colon keepin' you on schedule.)

This isn’t as well rounded a meal as it should be, or as I thought it was when I started looking all that up… had I thought this through I might have saved the rainbow rant for another meal, but it’s half written, too late! Now you probably see why eating by color makes sense, those beige foods share a lot of nutrients. While the idea dairy and meat are the only/best sources of calcium and iron (as well as protein, but that one's getting old and I'm sick of talking about it) is a common misconception*, it’s still important to be conscious of what you eat, and how balanced your diet is. This is where those beige foods shine. They're often rich sources of complex carbohydrates, iron, calcium, potassium, and allicin (the compound in garlic that has gotten all sorts of hype) making them an important part of your diet.

So really...

Eat a Rainbow (+ beige)

*So you know: broccoli has more calcium per calorie than milk, and none of the fat that can inhibit absorption, and a cup of cooked spinach has as much iron (or more if you’re a good vegan and cook in cast iron) as 3 oz of beef. Non-heme iron, the form found in vegetables isn’t as easy to absorb as heme iron, the kind in meat, so eat it along with foods rich in vitamin C to increase absorption.