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Spring is here and with it comes visions of color. Color is a stimulant to our eyes and also to our diet. We often "eat with our eyes" meaning the way a food looks often affects how it tastes to us. Think color when planning and eating your daily diet. Eating fruits and vegetables of different colors gives your body a wide range of valuable nutrients like fiber, folate, potassium, and vitamins A and C. Think of the colors in orange sweet potato, yellow corn, spinach and other leafy greens, purple plums, red watermelon, black beans. Eating a diet rich in colorful fruits and vegetables as part of an overall healthy diet may reduce your risk of some chronic diseases- cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, as well as protect against certain cancers, such as mouth, stomach, and colon-rectum cancer. Eating fruits and vegetables rich in potassium and calcium as part of an overall healthy diet may help to decrease bone loss. Most vegetables and fruits contribute dietary fiber to the diet. Fiber helps reduce cholesterol levels and is important to proper bowel function. It helps reduce constipation and diverticulosis. Fiber containing foods such as vegetables help provide a feeling of fullness with fewer calories. When shopping for fruits and vegetables, try to buy those in season. They are likely to cost less and be at their peak flavor and nutrition. However, it is always wise to keep some frozen or canned on hand. Fruits and vegetables can be fresh, canned, frozen, or dried. Any vegetable, fruit or 100% vegetable or fruit juice can count - Color and Variety are important © April 2008
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