Doing what’s best for your body isn’t always easy. Many of us lead busy, sedentary lifestyles that often lead to unbalanced diets. Meeting your nutritional needs requires conscious effort, planning, and sometimes creative problem solving. That’s why today, we’re introducing you to the Color Plate Challenge: a diet plan that makes goal-setting and meal prep easier and more nutritionally balanced.

In order to meet your daily nutritional needs, the Color Plate Challenge guides you to create colorful plate combinations that include a variety of nutrient-rich foods. This means focusing on the physical composition of your plate by integrating every color of the rainbow, not just the standard four food groups.

With this approach, you’ll provide your body with all the essential nutrients needed to maintain optimal health. Here’s a brief overview of what each color provides and which foods to include:

Red Foods

Red foods are powerful sources of antioxidants, providing the body with numerous health benefits. Choose edible items that are deep red in color, such as tomatoes, watermelon, red peppers, and strawberries. Other great sources of antioxidants in this color group include beets, radishes, and red grapes.

Orange/Yellow Foods

These vibrant foods are especially high in Vitamin A and beta-carotene, which support eye and immune health. Be sure to get your natural dose of carotenes with carrots, pumpkins, squash, sweet potatoes, yellow peppers, papayas, and mangos.

Green Foods

Dark green leafy foods like spinach, kale, and collard greens are packed with Vitamins A, K, and C. Green veggies like broccoli and Brussels sprouts are also awesome choices for their antioxidant-rich, cancer-combatting benefits.

Blue/Purple Foods

Blue and purple fruits and vegetables are abundant sources of anthocyanins, a type of flavonoid known for its anti-inflammatory benefits. Foods such as blueberries, blackberries, eggplants, and purple potatoes are all great additions to this group.

White/Brown Foods

This food group is often forgotten, but white and brown foods are also essential for maintaining optimal health. For example, onions are packed with Vitamins C and B6, and mushrooms are high in Vitamin D and antioxidants. Other great nutrient-dense choices include cauliflower and garlic.

Making It Work

Creating colorful plate combinations is an easy way to ensure that you’re eating a wide array of nutrient-dense, health-promoting foods. Taking the Color Plate Challenge might just be the answer to staying healthy and balanced.

The best way to successfully meet your nutritional needs is to follow a healthful eating plan and consult a registered dietitian for tailored advice. Here at __________ we can help you devise a meal plan to optimize your health.