Eating Colors of Rainbow - Promote Your Health and Wellness

Eating a Variety of colorful fruits and vegetables is a good way to keep a healthy heart!

Belief Net

Many of the foods we eat are not only high in calories and fat but they are also not good for our heart! Be “Heart Healthy” and follow these guidelines!

Things You’ll Need:

• A trip to the grocery store to stock up on:
• low fat foods
• whole grain foods
• fruits and vegetables

1. 
   
   
   Step 1
   
   
   
   
   
   Rainbow of fruits and vegetables are great for maintaining a healthy heart!
   Eat a variety of colorful fruit and vegetables. The food you choose should be bright in color. In fact your plate should look like a rainbow. Focus on eating green foods (spinach, broccoli, greens, honey dew melons), red foods ( tomatoes, watermelon, red cabbage), orange/yellow foods (oranges, nectarines, pineapple), red blue/purple food ( red apples, leeks, cranberries, prunes, strawberries), yellow foods (bananas, squash, avocados). Eating a “rainbow of food” is the best way to ensure that you are getting all the vitamins and minerals that your body need for optimum health for your heart.
2. 
   
   
   Step 2
   
   
   
   
   
   Eating low fat, high in protein foods such as rice and beans is a delicious way to stay
   Increase your consumption of low-fat protein sources. Lean meat such as poultry and fish are low in fat and high in protein. Be careful when it comes to preparation of meat and fish and stay away from any frying of foods as part of your preparation. Low fat milk, skim milk, legumes, beans , peas, and lentils are also low in fat, have no cholesterol and are excellent sources of protein. Soy protein, such as a soy burger is a great substitute for animal protein.
3. 
   
   
   Step 3
   
   
   
   
   
   Try this whole grain treat of bananas, peanut butter and whole grain bread tostart your day or for a quick energy snack!
   Increase your whole grain consumption. Whole grains are an excellent source of vitamins, minerals, thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, zinc, phosphorous , selenium, vitamins and iron! These nutrients play an important role in promoting heart health and maintaining low blood pressure. Breads made of 100% whole grain, whole wheat pasta, brown rice, brown flour, are much more nutritious than their highly processes and bleached counter parts. Cereals that are high in fiber such as bran flakes, oats, and shredded wheat, are excellent for breakfast instead of donuts and highly sugared cereals.
4. 
   
   
   Step 4
   
   
   
   
   
   Emjoy experimenting with herbs to season your food instead of using salt – your heart will love you for it.
   Low salt consumption. Cardiovascular disease can be caused by a high salt consumption. High salt can increase high blood pressure, which contributes to cardiovascular disease. Instead of using salt to season your foods try herbs such as rosemary, thyme, dill, parsley, oregano, and other natural seasonings such as garlic and lemon.
   
   Lynnis Woods-Mullins
   PraiseWorks,Inc
   www.praiseworks.com
   Talk Show Radio Host "The Wellness Journey!" on Voice America
   
   
   
   
       
   
   
   
       

Related articles

• Healthy Snacks to be Included in a Healthy Diet (justslimming.com)
• Health Benefits of Whole Grains (brighthub.com)