Supermarkets have so much choice, it’s easy to just pick up the same ingredients and make similar meals. Just mixing up the fruit and vegetables we regularly buy could have a great impact on the nutrition levels of our diet. This simple guide suggests buying by colour, so we simply pick and choose a few of these to go in our trolleys, making sure we get at least one from every category every time we go grocery shopping.
Red
Lots of red foods are packed with anti-oxidants and nature has given us so many to choose from. For a sweet, succulent snack we can go for any kind of berry, including raspberries and strawberries, to brighten up our meals. The fruits’ carotenoids, Vitamin C, folic acid and fibre content can protect us from heart disease and cancer. Red cabbage is another kind of food packed with nutrients, including Vitamins K, D and A, which help to build strong bones. It’s also low in calories so will suit those of us who are trying to lose weight. To give our immune systems a boost and help our vision, sweet potatoes are the ideal addition to our trolleys because of their Vitamin A content. We can reduce our cholesterol and further increase the anti-oxidants in our diets by making sure we put some red peppers on our shopping list too.
Green
One very important colour to include in our baskets is green. The benefits of green, leafy vegetables are well-known with some of them being classed as superfoods. This applies to kale, which can make a change to broccoli. Kale also has high Vitamin A, C and K levels and can help us fight off free radical damage. Another popular green vegetable is spinach, which makes a healthy option because it contains potassium for a healthy heart and anti-ageing phytochemicals.
Yellow
The seeds themselves may not be classed as yellow, but the plant sunflower seeds grow into can be! Stocking up on these seeds means you can add lots of nutrients to your meals, including anti-inflammatory nutrient Vitamin E and phytosterols, which lowers cholesterol. You can add them to salads, and when you feel like having just a fruit salad then there are lots of yellow varieties to choose from. Vitamin A-packed grapefruits provide protective effects from cancer and honeydew melons contain copper to repair cells and Vitamin C for a healthy immune system. All of these foods contain many different kinds of nutrients and eating those that have different colours is a good way to make sure your diet is varied.
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