A Rainbow of Superfoods

A lot of my friends and relatives ask me how they can eat more healthily and avoid foods that they keep reaching for but that they know aren’t good for them, like desserts high in refined sugar or salty potato chips.

I have this idea that if you are trying to kick-start a new healthier diet for yourself, it might psychologically work better to focus positively on eating certain things, rather than focusing on depriving yourself of other things.

Like, try to get a whole "rainbow" of fruits and veggies into your meals for the week, or eat more "superfoods" (to maximize the quantity and quality of nutrients you get in fewer calories; e.g., red cabbage has way more phytonutrients than green cabbage; whereas, eggplant, much as we all love it, doesn't really pack as much of a punch, with most of its good stuff in the skin).

If you’re thinking, “This week, I really need to eat blueberries with my granola, make some strawberry buttermilk ice for dessert one night, add some pumpkin to my whole grain pancakes, drink some grapefruit juice, throw some dark leafy greens into my chhole (chickpea curry), add some broccoli sprouts to my sandwich at lunch, have a seaweed salad and something really garlicky,” you won’t even have time to think about potato chips!

Adapted from “Food As Medicine,” here are some "superfoods," by color:
purple - grapes, prunes, plums, cherries, cranberries, raisins, blueberries, peppers, acai.
red - tomatoes, pink grapefruit, watermelon, apples, beets, strawberries, peppers.
orange - pumpkin, carrot, squash, yam, mango, apricot, cantaloupe, peppers.
orange-yellow - oranges, oj, tangerines, grapefruit, peaches, lemons, limes, papaya, pineapple, nectarines, goji berries.
yellow-green - peas, beans, spinach, peppers, collards, cucumber, mustard greens, kiwi, avocados, bananas.
green - broccoli, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, cabbage, kale, bok choy, broccoli sprouts, wheat/barley grass.
white-green - garlic, onions, celery, leeks, asparagus, pears, artichoke, endive, mushrooms, chives.
sea vegetables – spirulina, kelp.