EAT THE ALPHABET!
You may have heard of the term ‘eat the rainbow’, this is often taught to children and adults alike, to encourage a varied diet. You may have also heard the expression ‘taste the rainbow’ - similar phrase, however this is the skittles tag line and is unfortunately not an encouraged diet (real shame I know).
Eating the rainbow is an incredible way to visualise health. Having a variation of colour in food often correlates directly to an abundance of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and phytochemicals. However, attempting to ‘eat the rainbow’ can be tricky when you aren’t sure which foods are the best examples of a healthy diverse diet. This blog aims to aid you in creating a personalised rainbow of foods that you like, and will enjoy creating recipes with.
DEWCY’s founder Sarah Hannett, prefers to ‘eat the alphabet’ and finds this way she can jot down specific foods that she can buy and easily switch in and out of her diet each week. It really does help if you take the time to think through some veggies/fruits/herbs you like to eat first and note them down. When you hit a brick wall and can’t think of any more, use the alphabet to inspire you, writing as many veggies and fruits down starting with A through to Z. Over time you can refine to include other foods like grains, nuts, etc until you have your complete and preferred ‘eat the alphabet.’
Here is a copy of Sarah’s alphabet list to get you started!
So, how many different ‘plants’ should we be consuming per week? Tim Spector, microbiome gut health expert, suggests 30 per week is the ‘sweet spot’ for ensuring our diet is balanced and brimming with nutritious goodies. He proposes that plants aren’t necessarily restricted to what you may assume - just fruits and vegetables. They also include nuts, seeds, grains, spices, and herbs. Making it much easier to achieve a diverse diet than initially anticipated.
Check out Tim’s instagram page to learn more on this topic and to get you started on your gut health journey and a little ‘taste’ of what to expect, (pun 100% intended!)
Using our alphabet as inspiration, alongside Tim Spector’s gut advice, why not collate a list of fruit, vegetables, nuts, seeds, grains, spices, and herbs that you can incorporate into your own meals. Even if it is jotted on the back of an old receipt, nothing fancy, just a list of healthy goodies that you can consider adding to your shopping list to help hit that sweet spot of 30 a week.
Hope you enjoy your weekend lovelies.
xoxo