Why is it important to eat a variety of colourful vegetables and fruit?
Vegetables (also known as “veggies”) and fruit come in many colours such as green, yellow, orange, red, blue, pink, purple and white. Each veggie and fruit has a different amount of essential nutrients and disease-fighting phytochemicals. Phytochemicals are plant compounds that reduce the risk of developing chronic diseases. Phytochemicals give the veggies and fruit their different colours. It’s important to eat different coloured veggies and fruit so that you get the health benefits of the different nutrients and phytochemicals. Use Canada’s Food Guide to help you choose a variety of veggies and fruit. Choose one dark green and one orange veggie each day. Dark green veggies are rich in folate. Examples include arugula, asparagus, broccoli, brussel sprouts, collards, fresh parsley, green peas, mustard greens, romaine lettuce and spinach. Orange veggies are rich in vitamin A. Examples include carrots, pumpkin, orange-coloured squash and sweet potatoes. You may also choose to eat an oran
