Help Us Build a List of Favorite Colorful and Nutritious Foods for National Nutrition Month

March is National Nutrition Month and the theme is "Eat Right with Color!" An easy way to start improving your nutrition is to include a variety of color on your plate, including fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, and dairy.The American Dietetic Association further suggests Americans "take time during National Nutrition Month to look at their eating patterns and begin to make the small improvements that, over time, add up to significant health benefits."

We asked our ACHS Facebook fans to help us build a list of favorite colorful and nutritious foods. If you're looking for some new ideas and to add some variety to your diet, our fans suggest: yellow sweet peppers, kale, cabbage, broccoli, red tomatoes, red (orange) lentils, bell peppers, lemons, blueberries, purple potatoes, onions, garlic, spinach, collard greens, parsnips, turnips, beets, carrots, and rutabaga.

> See the complete list on ACHS Facebook and add your favorites!

Grow-It-Yourself Alfalfa Sprouts More Fun Than They Sound

An ACHS student post on our Facebook has prompted us to update an earlier post about sprouts.

Alfalfa sprouts are a valuable source of vitamins A, C, E, and K, and the minerals calcium, potassium, phosphorus, and iron[1]. Sprouts have also been shown to include concentrated amounts of phytochemicals, which support optimal health and wellness.

Alfalfa sprouts are easy to grow and make flavorful additions to raw-food meals like salads, sandwiches, and main dishes like quinoa tabouleh. Other kinds of sprouts, like broccoli sprouts and Brussels sprouts, make crunchy, flavorful additions to cooked dishes (or roasted in a little garlic, olive oil, and sea salt as a side dish).

Read directions for how to grown your own alfalfa, in our earlier post here.

For more tips about how to eat sprouts and fun, family-friendly growing projects (like broccoli sprouts) download your free copy of the ACHS Wellness Guide here.

[1] For a clinical summary of the health benefits and potential contraindications of sprouts, read the Sloan Kettering website here.

The New Dirty Dozen and Clean Foods You Don't Have to Buy Organic

The Dirty Dozen--the list of 12 foods you should eat organic--has been updated for 2010. The new list includes fruits, vegetables, and other foods with a high pesticide residue. It is highly recommended to buy organic when shopping for these foods. So, what are they?

The New Dirty Dozen includes:

• Celery
• Peaches
• Strawberries
• Apples
• Blueberries (new to the Dirty Dozen list, blueberries are reportedly treated with 52 pesticides, making them one of the dirtiest berries available)
• Nectarines
• Bell Peppers
• Spinach (also new to the Dirty Dozen, spinach may have as many as 48 different pesticides)
• Kale
• Cherries
• Potatoes
• Grapes

For more information about this new list, as well as information about how to shop for meats, milk, and leafy greens check out The Daily Green website.

By the way, carrots have been removed from the Dirty Dozen list, but made the list in previous years because of the up to 26 pesticides used. Carrots are a great source of beta-carotene and add great texture to vegetable dishes, so if you can't find organic, just be sure to scrub them before eating and you may consider peeling their skin as well.

The good news ... there are 15 identified "Clean Foods" you can eat without having to buy organic! Also from The Daily Green website, this list includes:

• Onion
• Avocado
• Sweet Corn
• Pineapple
• Mango
• Asparagus
• Sweet Peas
• Kiwi
• Cabbage
• Eggplant
• Papaya
• Watermelon
• Broccoli
• Tomato
• Sweet Potato

For more information about what "organic" means and why to buy organic, download our free ACHS Wellness Guide here. It also includes lots of practical tips for natura bodycare and holistic living.

Are you interested in exchanging recipes? We're collecting healthy, holistic recipes on ACHS Facebook for exchange. Get some new ideas, share some new ideas here: http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=99091122240&topic=13172