The Eat the Rainbow Challenge invites you to eat as many different fruits and vegetables
from the colors of the rainbow as you can. Fruits and vegetables come in about seven different colors, and each one of these colors provides a different set of health promoting properties. By getting a variety of color in your diet, you’re giving your body an array of vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals to benefit your health and protect against disease.
Challenge yourself to try to eat at least 3 different colors per day and see how vibrant and colorful you can make your plate or bowl! Aside from the health benefits of eating the rainbow, this challenge will push you out of your comfort zone to get creative, try new foods and serves as a visual reminder to add more color to your plate. Different colors mean different nutrients, so you might even touch on nutritional areas that you’ve been lacking in! For example, blueberries have different vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals (like antioxidants), compared to oranges.
Another reason to increase your variety is your gut microbiome (or all the little bugs in your GI system). Research from the American Gut project study is emerging to show that greater diet variety leads to greater microbial diversity which appears to be important for disease prevention and overall health. Researchers are recommending 30 or more different plant foods a week. Plants also have a low calorie density which can help with maintaining a healthy weight.
To win the challenge: Eat fruits and vegetables in a variety of different colors each week. Submit images or descriptions of your colorful meals or snacks to the challenge teams group. Top 3 participants win a prize at the end of the month. We will also keep a log of our daily colors within the group.
To get signed up click the link below. The challenge starts Tuesday July 5!