The Gazette | See 4 tips to add more colors to your meals

Colorful meals not only visually whet your appetite, but also play a key role in maintaining good health. This is because the colors of fruits, vegetables and other natural foods also indicate the presence of different essential nutrients, such as vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Not surprisingly, the recommendation of the World Health Organization (WHO) is to five daily servings of fruits and vegetables to prevent chronic illnesses and promote better overall health.

According to Covitel data from 2023, less than half of the Brazilian population (45.5%) consumes vegetables five times or more a week. Despite a 15.2% increase between 2022 and 2023 after a drop during the pandemic, consumption remains below ideal in the country. The population aged 65 or over has the highest rate of adequate consumption (45.5%), contrasting with just 39.2% of young people aged 18 to 24.

For Caroline Medeiros, nutritionist at Centro Universitário Adventista de São Paulo (UNASP), consuming a variety of colors means obtaining a wide range of nutrients. “Nutrients, found in plants, play a crucial role in digestion and eliminating toxins from the body,” she explains.

So, below, check out 4 tips for adding more colors to your meals!

A practical way to incorporate more colors into your diet is to start with breakfast. Add fruits like bananas, strawberries or blueberries on cereal, yogurt or pancakes it can enrich the first meal of the day with an explosion of nutrients and flavors.

For lunch and dinner, the salads they are an excellent way to combine several colors and nutrients in a single meal. Try mixing different types of vegetables, like tomatoes, zucchini and peppers, with green leaves to create dishes that are both nutritious and attractive.

For snacks, opt for fruit dried and nutsor cut vegetables like carrots and cucumbers. These snacks are not only convenient and easy to prepare, but they also add a variety of essential vitamins and minerals to the daily diet.

Involving children in choosing and preparing colorful foods can help them develop healthy eating habits from an early age. Teaching them about how each food color benefits the body can encourage them to make smart food choices on their own.

Adopting a more colorful dish is a simple and effective approach to improving the quality of your diet and, by extension, your overall health. Increasing your intake of fruits and vegetables of different colors not only helps ensure a wide range of essential nutrients, but can also be a fun and delicious culinary journey.

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