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    Home / Recipes / How to Eat Healthy

    How to Eat the Rainbow (Chart & Smoothie)

    Mar 5, 2021 · Updated: Oct 21, 2023 by Dee Dine · Affliate links disclosure.

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    Learn how to eat the rainbow by eating a broad array of foods in different colors so you benefit from a large variety of nutrients, boosting immunity, energy, supporting skin, vision and brain, keeping bones and teeth healthy and more. Here find a chart of foods by colors of the rainbow and a smoothie with all the colors of the rainbow.

    rainbow fruit for how to eat a rainbow article

    It's easy to learn how to eat the rainbow if you just eat a different food each day that represents each color of the rainbow. Below I give you a chart of foods and the color and nutrition they represent so you can plan how to eat the rainbow.

    Jump to:
    • 3 Ways to Eat Colorfully
    • Meaning of Eating the Rainbow
    • Importance
    • Benefits of Eating Raw
    • Rainbow Food Color Chart
    • Eat a Rainbow Smoothie
    • Try My Free Rainbow Smoothie Recipe
    • Other Rainbow Recipes
    • 📖 Recipe

    3 Ways to Eat Colorfully

    If eating healthy is easy, you are more likely to do it. Here are a few meals that will make it easy to eat the rainbow.

    1. A Smoothie. Choose a fruit or veggie that represents each color of the rainbow, add it to a blender with a liquid and drink! I provide you with my own fruit rainbow smoothie recipe in the recipe card at the end of this post. Or visit my ultimate How to Make A Smoothie post with a free downloadable smoothie chart.

    2. A Fruit Salad. You can again choose fruits and veggies (Sure, veggies are fine in a fruit salad) that represent each color of the rainbow, toss them in a salad and eat! Here are two of my favorite salads, Watermelon Fruit Salad, and my Chickpea Cucumber Salad.

    3. A Rainbow Sandwich. Choose fillings that reflect each color of the rainbow, and put them a roll, your favorite bread or even roll them in a salad or collard leaf. Try my BBQ Jackfruit Sandwich.

    And here are more ways to eat the rainbow: Roast a selection of rainbow vegetables, add rainbow veggies to a stew, and even create a rainbow ice cream bar with my homemade magic shell in 3 flavors or my healthy chocolate sauce so each person must build an ice cream sundae that has a fruit from each color of the rainbow.

    Meaning of Eating the Rainbow

    Eating the rainbow is a way of eating a balanced diet based on colors. It is also sometimes called eat your colors. Foods of a similar color tend to have similar nutrients.

    By eating a few examples of each color of the rainbow each day is a way to eat a fairly balanced and nutritionally sound diet. [Science Source]

    Importance

    Eating the rainbow is the best way to get the nutrients your body needs each day. A balanced diet ensures that each of your body processes is getting the nutrition it needs to function at its optimum level. Eating red, orange, yellow, green, purple, and white plants daily, provides an array of essential nutrition.

    Benefits of Eating Raw

    Now, eating the rainbow means eating an assortment of foods, that can be cooked or not. However, there is a general consensus in the scientific community that eating less cooked foods, or raw foods, leads to higher nutrition. [source]

    That's because when a food is cooked, the nutrition is generally diminished.
    However, moderation in life is the key to happiness, no? So you decide on how much cooked and raw food to incorporate into your daily diet.

    Now, you didn't think I was going to leave things here, right. Of course you are curious now about what color food does what nutritionally. And I've got your back!

    Rainbow Food Color Chart

    Here is a list of colors and their matching foods and benefits that you can use to build out your eat the rainbow diet:

    1. RED: has lycopene, which protects again disease and contributes to eye and heart health. EX: Strawberries, raspberries, cherries, rhubarb, watermelon [source]

    2. ORANGE & YELLOW: has beta carotene, which supports eyes, skin, immune system. EX: Carrots, peppers, yellow cabbage, persimmon, cantaloupe [source]
    3. GREEN: has lutein, which protects against disease, supports immune system and much more. EX: leafy veggies, green peppers, kiwi, avocado, celery [source]

    4. BLUE & PURPLE: has flavonoids and anthocyanins which boost brain power, and the immune system. EX: Blueberries, blackberries, purple cabbage [source]

    5. WHITE & NEUTRAL: Many essential nutrients missing in other foods. EX: Apples, pears, bananas, zucchini, cucumbers, mushrooms, onions, dragon fruit, coconut (Nutritional science categorizes a food color by the flesh, not skin.) [source]

    Eat a Rainbow Smoothie

    A super convenient way to eat the rainbow is to throw together a smoothie! Just throw in 3-4 cups of veggies and fruits and you have half your 5-a-day or more covered!

    I have smoothies on my blog to help you out or try my 4-Ingredient Smoothie & Juice Book! It will really help you make rainbow smoothies fast.

    4-Ingredient Smoothies and Juices Cookbook by Dee Dine

    Try My Free Rainbow Smoothie Recipe

    To start you off, I have also provided you with a healthy rainbow-based Berry Zucchini Cilantro Smoothie Recipe below.

    Other Rainbow Recipes

    • a fruit platter in an iron cast pan
      How to Make A Fresh Fruit Platter (Fruit Tray)
    • beet juice in a glass with a glass straw and orange slice.
      How to Make Beetroot Juice (Blender, Benefits)
    • watermelon fruit salad with stars
      Watermelon Fruit Salad with Lime Mint Dressing
    • a row of smoothies in different colors and flavors
      How to Make A Healthy Smoothie

    If you tried this recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!

    📖 Recipe

    rainbow fruit for how to eat a rainbow article

    How to Eat the Rainbow (Chart, Smoothie)

    Created by Dee Dine
    Learn how to eat the rainbow by eating a broad array of foods in different colors so you benefit from a large variety of nutrients, boosting immunity, energy, supporting skin, vision and brain, keeping bones and teeth healthy and more. Find my chart of foods by colors of the rainbow in the post above and below is a smoothie with all the colors of the rainbow.
    5 from 1 vote
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe SaveSaved! Rate Recipe
    Prep Time 10 minutes mins
    Cook Time 5 minutes mins
    Total Time 15 minutes mins
    Course Breakfast, Snack
    Cuisine American
    Servings 8
    Calories 60 kcal

    Ingredients
      

    • ¼ cup strawberries (pink, red)
    • ¼ cup blueberries (blue, purple)
    • ¼ cup carrots (orange, yellow)
    • ¼ cup zucchini (peeled to represent white)
    • ¼ cup baby spinach (green)
    • ¼ cup yogurt*
    • pinch of salt
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    Instructions
     

    • Blend all the ingredients, pour in glasses or into a serving platter and top with a rainbow array of fruits.
    • For optimum nutrition, eat the same day it is blended.

    Notes

    *Use dairy free yogurt to keep smoothie dairy free and vegan
    You can leave peel on zucchini if you want it to represent green.
    You can use fresh or frozen fruit or vegetables.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 60kcalCarbohydrates: 7gProtein: 12gFat: 3gSaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 1mgSodium: 18mgPotassium: 378mgFiber: 9gSugar: 12gVitamin A: 1456IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 255mgIron: 1mg
    Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

    More How to Eat Healthy

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      Easy 3-Minute Golden Milk
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      Easy Celery Juice Recipe (blender or juicer)
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      Aloe Vera Juice (recipe & benefits)

    Detox Drinks to Feel Great in 2023

    1. Apple Cider Vinegar Drink
    2. Ginger Shots
    3. Ginger Juice
    4. Celery Juice
    5. Turmeric Shots
    6. How to Make Ginger Tea
    7. How to Make Watermelon Juice
    8. Single Serving Lemonade

    Buy My Two Cookbooks

    My 4-Ingredient Healthy Dessert Cookbook My 4-Ingredient Smoothie & Juice CookBook

    About Dee

    Hey! I'm Dee Dine, and on my blog, I share healthy recipes with wholesome ingredients. I'm also a chocolate and ginger enthusiast, animal lover, an avid blender juicer, and am probably making no bake brownies in my Washington DC kitchen right now. Read about me → »

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Linda

      February 21, 2022 at 10:34 pm

      Do you think I could make a cashew yogurt with your cashew cream recipe & and a probiotic capsule? Sounds so delicious!!

      Reply
      • Dee Dine

        February 22, 2022 at 9:57 am

        Yes! Plus I have a cashew yogurt recipe here that might help

        Reply
        • Linda

          February 22, 2022 at 6:40 pm

          Awesome!! Thank you!! I finished the 6 smoothies challenge, yesterday. Delicious!!

        • Dee Dine

          February 23, 2022 at 12:29 pm

          Congrats!

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    dee dine

    I'm Dee, and I am a recipe creator and cookbook author sharing healthier, lighter recipes that use plenty of fruits and veggies, and have shorter ingredient lists. I use my science background to make classic recipes healthier. About Dee →

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