We know we need to eat a minimum of 5 servings of fruit and vegetables everyday. Actually now, to prevent cancer, 8 to 13 servings per day are recommended. A serving is one cup of raw fruits or vegetables, or ½ cup cooked. At a recent lecture I asked a lunch audience to raise their hand if they had at least one fruit or vegetable already that day. No one in that group raised their hand. This is not uncommon. Our processed and convenience foods contain very few fruits and vegetables.

To prevent chronic diseases, fruits and especially vegetables are very important. Vegetables especially have antioxidants, minerals, and phytochemicals in correct combination that help keep blood sugar in balance, create better energy in body, and along with fruits build up immune system.

Each color found in fruits and vegetables focus on building immune system in its own way. It is important to get a variety of colors, so that you will get a full range of phytochemicals (beneficial plant chemicals) in your daily diet. Research is finding that eating whole fruits and vegetables gives you many more nutrients than you could possible add to a vitamin and mineral supplement. There are over 12,000 phytochemicals, and I have yet to see a supplement, unless it has whole fruits and vegetables in it, have all of 180 different vitamins or minerals that are required by our body to function daily.

The different colors in fruits and vegetables help our immune system react to different stresses in our daily life. So look at different colors in your diet. See if they include each of colors listed below. This is one way to know that you are getting full benefit of nutrients possible in your diet.

Green Foods – broccoli, kale, leaf and romaine lettuce, spinach, cabbage and Brussels sprouts. Green foods are especially good for circulatory system. They contain many minerals and B-complex vitamins. Some phytochemicals found in green foods are sulforaphane and indoles that are very powerful anti-cancer compounds. Researchers have tried to use these as isolated phytochemicals but find that they only work while in whole food form.

Often we will suddenly decide to get in shape or lose weight, we buy a new pair of shoes, latest diet books and supplements, a gym membership and plan to spend 6 hours every week working out even if it kills us. We tell ourselves "This is it, this time I am going to do it-theres no turning back now". By end of first week we feel exhausted and frustrated because we had to miss two workouts, one of kids got sick and other had soccer practice. Week two we are an inevitable no show, feeling even worse than before. Instead of this quick road to failure; why not a steady, enjoyable and predictable journey to success? Approach your health like a savings plan with small investments that build into huge results over time.