Variety is the Spice of Life
This old adage applies to many aspects of life - our interests, our talents, our friends, and of course our food.
If you are someone who eats the same breakfast. lunch and dinner most days you may be missing out on the pleasure that comes from a varied menu. Additionally, eating the same foods every day, even when they are quality foods, limits your variety of nutrients and may leave you deficient in some essential ones.
Nutrients work together to carry out the proper functioning of each of your body systems. For instance, an apple when broken down has more than 1100 phyto nutrients and each works in synergy with the others. Phytonutrients are powerful anti-inflammatory chemicals and are found only in plant foods. While you can take them in supplement form, the best way to get them is through food. You can’t really get this powerful mix from a supplement.
Aristotle said “Let food be thy medicine, and medicine be thy food.” This is true today as much as it was in 350BC. However, today we need to be careful about the foods we choose to purchase. The quality varies immensely due to growing conditions, types of seeds, harvesting and transportation.
Here are some tips for optimizing the nutrient value of the food you eat:
Whenever possible, buy local. Plant based foods have the best level of nutrients when they have a short shelf life. Prolonged storage and transportation across continents will not give you the benefits found in local foods. Local foods are grown in the same environment in which we live and breathe, making them more compatible with our biology.
Buy organic when you can. Refer to ewg.org for a list of fruits and vegetables that should always be organic and those that are more acceptable when conventional.
Talk to your local grocery store produce manager and ask for more local fruits and vegetables.
Plan for a colorful variety of fruits and vegetables. As noted above, nutrients work together to give you the wide variety that your body systems require. Greens provide vitamin A, vitamin C, antioxidants, fiber, folate, vitamin K, magnesium, calcium, iron and potassium. Orange fruits and vegetables provide beta-carotene. Red fruits and vegetables will give you vitamin C, vitamin A, potassium and antioxidants. White fruits and vegetables give you fiber and resistant starch along with potassium and magnesium. Yellow fruits and vegetables give you potassium, vitamin C, iron, copper, B complex vitamins, and vitamin A, as well as soluble fiber and other antioxidants.
The body systems are amazing and complex. Without our being aware of what is happening, the cells in the body are constantly absorbing, using and discarding the nutrients we include in your diet. Given the importance of a regular intake of so many nutrients you can easily see how important it is to consume fresh quality fruits and vegetables.
Menu Planning
Menu planning is essential to quality eating and it does not have to be difficult. To ensure you are getting nutrients on a regular basis, starting with a weekly menu plan will help you cover all the bases. I have developed a one month menu program suited to whatever season you are in that will give you the variety of foods you need for breakfast, lunch and dinner. You can follow this exactly or vary it according to your preferences, replacing specific foods with another food in the same family that you like more. The menu plan will be a road map to high nutrient planning and still give you the flexibility to alter it when you want. Click here for more information or to purchase. From it you can choose the meals you like, repeat them, or just follow the day to day suggestions.