Too few fruits and vegetables, along with too few a variety of colorful choices of those foods... that's one or the primary reasons we recommend adding a whole food nutritional supplement like Juice Plus+. You get nutrients from a variety of colorful fruits and vegetables when you supplement with Juice Plus+. --
There are many benefits to maintaining a healthy diet. Disease prevention, living longer, and living at an ideal weight are all results of a healthy diet, eating healthy. It is important to know which foods to buy, because it is confusing, let alone what foods to consume. There is one way to decide that may make it easier. And that is to look at the color. For improving your health and increasing your chances of prevention of sickness and disease, there may be a color associated with what you need. Fruits and vegetables contain phytochemicals which are packed with vitamins and minerals. Phytochemicals help protect against aging, sickness, diseases like heart disease and a plethora of other health problems. One of the main things that phytochemicals contain are antioxidants that fight free radicals, those chemicals that can contribute to the increased risk of health problems.
Fruits and vegetables come in many different colors. The colors of each can be associated with certain types of phytochemicals, nutrients, and vitamins that help in the prevention of certain conditions and support of certain systems and organs of the body. Categories that include red, blue/purple, yellow/orange, white and green are the most common. For instance, those that are bananas, garlic, onions and potatoes are in the white category and help with heart health, lowering cholesterol and reducing the risk of some cancers. Cantaloupes, mangoes and sweet potatoes are all part of the yellow/orange category and help with the eye and heart health. Green grapes, kiwis, broccoli and spinach also help with vision and reducing the risk of cancer.
There is much talk about anthocyanins that are present in the skin of certain berries, specifically blueberries which have an effect on helping reduce aging (by the way, Juice Plus+ has a Berry Blend with nutrients from 9 different grapes and berries). You can use one of the government's websites to help ou decide which fruits and vegetables are helpful for what parts of your body if you're unsure. The site, created by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, can be found at www.fruitsandveggiesmatter.gov. There are obviously variables to consider - such as age, gender, your level of activity, and so on - that will influence how many servings of fruits and vegetables you need. It is important to think about a variety of fruit and vegetables for your daily consumption and just as importantly, a variety of colors. Different colored foods will provide different types of phytonutrients, which will all work together for the support of your good health. There are a lot of things you can do to make your diet healthier with a variety of fruits and vegetables. For one, if you have trouble eating those different types of foods, try buying 100% fruit juice plus avoid those with any additives like high fructose corn syrup or anything. Get the juice that is squeezed from the foods. You could also try using a juicer so that you can get fruits and vegetables in your diet, as many people find the taste of certain vegetables (in particular) to be too unappealing to consume. You want to eat them raw so as to keep the nutrient-value as high as possible and this is one way to do it.
One thing NOT to do is keep vegetables cut up in your fridge. The reason? As soon as you cut open a fruit or vegetable, it begins to lose some of its nutrients through exposure to light and oxygen. (This is the reason the freeze-drying was such a helpful invention in the transport of foods). You want to keep as much of the nutrients in the food as possible - why waste your money if you're not going to get the full 100% value of phytonutrients as when you bought them. So DON'T cut them up and put them in your fridge.
There are many combinations of foods that can make eating raw vegetables much easier. One option that we did as kids (less often now) is to put peanut butter on celery sticks. Use organic peanut butter or organic almond butter - and not much, just enough to provide a taste. You can also make shakes and put in fruits and even add some soy and/or ice in order to make a smoothie. There is also a Juice Plus+ Complete that contains fruit and vegetable nutrients and soy protein that we use, and add a banana or other fruit to give it even more taste. “Fruits and Veggies — More Matters” is one program that the CDC in involved in, in order to help promote an increase in fruit and vegetable consumption. The number one problem we have with our diet today is a lack of fruit and vegetable consumption. We have to consider the many ways that we can consume more, as mentioned. Food combinations, getting a variety of vegetables and having hummus with them, making a shake with a variety of fruits, or even juicing with several different types of either food... all ways to help get more in your diet. The CDC has in some way mentioned that if we can just consume more fruits and vegetables - the minimum would be best - then we could reduce many of the conditions and diseases that are reducing not only the quality of life for so many people, but also reducing the years of their life.
Bottom Line: The healthiest diet you can plan is one where you are consuming at least the minimum recommended raw, ripened whole food fruits and vegetables each and every day. If you don't or won't or can't, please add a whole food supplement like Juice Plus+ to your daily intake. But still work on improving your diet to include more of those whole foods.
Dr. J. Patrick Havey
The Health & Wellness Institute, PC
Official Juice Plus+ Independent Distributor
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