As we celebrate June as Pride Month on our Nourish to Flourish blog, this week, we’ll be sharing daily posts about consuming the rainbow with each day focusing on a different color or set of colors. While ingesting fruits and vegetables can have so many benefits, choosing a variety can have an even greater impact. What’s a fun and practical way to get variety? Colors!
Differently colored fruits and vegetables offer different sets of benefits, and today’s color focus is red!
Red is for the heart, as it promotes heart health and reduces risk of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and even some cancers!
A few examples of red produce to explore:
Tomatoes: Use tomatoes in soups, sandwiches, and sauces.
Red bell peppers: Stir fry red bell peppers or eat them raw with your favorite dip.
Strawberries: Eat strawberries plain or mix them into yogurt.
Red apples: Consume red apples with nut butter or enjoy them on their own.
Fun fact: A cup of red bell peppers or strawberries each has more vitamin C than a medium-sized orange. Vitamin C is important to help your body in many ways. This include keeping cells healthy, helping your body absorb iron better, healing cuts, and may help lower blood pressure.
As we spotlight different colors of the rainbow, we recognize that obtaining these foods is more challenging for some than for others. For example, according to two 2023 reports, only half of LGBTQIA+ adults could afford to pay their bills in full, and 15% (higher in some groups) reported not having enough to eat. Less studied is nutrition insecurity, which is also highly important for health outcomes. If you or someone you know could use assistance, check out these resources.