March is National Nutrition Month®. The campaign is part of the American Dietetic Association’s effort to educate and focuses attention on the importance of making informed food choices, developing healthy eating and physical activity habits. It was started back in the 70s as a week and has exploded to a month. This year’s theme is “Eat Right with Color.” Meaning RDs are focusing on the benefits of pigment-related phytonutrients found in fruits and vegetables that supply them.
Ok enough background. If you want more click here.
I LOVE, with a capital L, eating color. If I don’t have enough color in my salad it just looks sad. Being a pescatarian I don’t get a lot of variety when it comes to my protein colors. Sure, my salmon is pink, but so are my tuna and shrimp.
So I turn to my heaping pile of fruits and veggies. There are times when I crave a fruit salad simply because you can have so much variety that is good for you. I am always the first person to jump into the crudités plate at a party. (See below for the RIGHT portion.)
The point is, when I go to the Union Square farmer’s market and see all the gorgeous radishes, rainbow carrots, apples and pears I get excited. I can’t wait for spring to return so that my colors come back.
Portion sizes
Fruits: The food pyramid suggests two to four servings of fruit per day. An example of a serving size of fruit would be:
- One medium apple, orange or banana
- 1/2 cup of chopped, cooked or canned fruit
- 3/4 cup of fruit juice
Vegetables: The food pyramid suggests three to five servings of vegetables per day. An example of a serving size of vegetables would be:
- 1 cup of raw leafy vegetables
- 1/2 cup of other vegetables, cooked or raw
- 3/4 cup of vegetable juice