I love this article.  Previously I spoke about the importance of eating a “rainbow” of different fruits and veggies and this Denver Post article really hits a home run in the same area of phytonutrients. 

 

Some of the best parts of the article include where to shop in a store, much like I teach in my Vital Living Nutrition program.  Shop the outer limits of the supermarket.  That is where the freshest, full of nutrients foods are located. Just in case you don’t want to delve into this article just yet, I have pulled out the following list compiled by Dr. Joel Furman of the top 10 fruits and veggies and listed it below for you.  Try just adding a few of these high nutrient value fruits and vegetables at first to your diet and cut out a few “empty of nutrients” foods and see what kind of changes start occurring in your life.  (more…)

 

Why phytonutrients are important.

 

Phytonutrients are found naturally in plants and are often categorized based on color and are part of the chemical makeup of fruits and vegetables.  Recently there have been many studies on phytonutrients and researchers have found that they have many health-enhancing qualities.  Unfortunately, most people continue to fall short on fruit and vegetable intake. In recent surveys it has been found that less than 20% of Americans are consuming optimal levels of phytonutrients.

 

To help fix this phytonutrients gap try increasing your daily fruit and vegetable intake to 10 servings (instead of the 5 that are usually recommended) and diversify the types of fruit you consume by aiming for two servings from each color categories listed here.  Your meal plate should be considered a blank canvas, and you need to fill it with a rainbow of color. (more…)