Eat the Rainbow for Natural Wellness

The recent change of season in the southern hemisphere always brings a flurry of bugs and unwanted sniffles. No matter what the season where you are, we need to make sure we’re optimising our health and wellness by eating a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, an important part of keeping your immune system boosted.

There’s no mistaking that our UMF™ Manuka Honey jars are as colourful as the rainbow itself! We encourage the term ‘Eat the Rainbow’ as the vitamins and minerals that come from a wide variety of colourful fruits and vegetables will help you to stay optimised for life.

Let’s take a closer look at colours made by nature and how they contribute to our health and wellness.

Red

Red fruits and vegetables contain a natural pigment called lycopene¹, which is a powerful antioxidant that has beneficial properties that can help keep our heart healthy.

Red can be found in fruits such as Strawberries, Raspberries, Cherries, Pomegranate, Tomatoes, Red Cabbage, Red Onion, Watermelon and Chillies.

Purple & Blue

These unique and vibrantly coloured fruits and vegetables contain anthocyanin which is anti-inflammatory and helps protect cells from damage. It’s also said that these nutrients can help boost memory.²

Try adding in some Beetroot, Blueberries, Blackberries, Plums, Eggplant and purple grapes to increase your intake of these naturally occurring health properties.

Orange & Yellow

It’s no secret that carrots are said to help improve your eyesight, this is due to a well-known carotenoid called betacarotene¹. The human body then converts this to Vitamin A which supports eye health.²

Some sources of this natural enzyme are Carrots, Lemons, Sweet potatoes, Pumpkin, Oranges, Apricots & Mangos.

Green

The pigment that gives plants their green colour is called chlorophyll which is another powerful antioxidant. Green foods are also packed with phytochemicals such as carotenoids, indoles and saponins. All of which are also antioxidants and anti-inflammatories which can help boost the immune system.

The most common green vegetables are leafy greens such as Spinach, Lettuce, Broccoli and Kale, but you can also include Avocados, Peas, Limes, Kiwifruit and Cucumber.

Brown & White

While these fruits and vegetables are not as colourful as the rest, they certainly shouldn’t be forgotten about. White plants contain phytochemicals such as allicin which is well known for its antiviral powers which can be found in Garlic. Other white fruits and vegetables can also be a good source of potassium.

Some sources of white foods can be found in Cauliflower, Mushrooms, Garlic, Bananas, Potatoes, Onions, Ginger, and Parsnips.

It’s incredibly beneficial to include a wide variety of these fruits and vegetables in your diet every day. With our busy lifestyles and fussy children, a good option could be to include some of this multi-coloured goodness into delicious smoothies.

Try adding in a spoonful of our UMF™ Manuka Honey to make smoothies even more delicious, add in some additional health benefits, and increase your source of slow-release energy for a great start to the day.

Here are a couple of recipes that include a wide variety of fruits and vegetables which are as good for you as they are delicious;

PURPLE POWER-PACKED SMOOTHIE