Color your world: Boost your diet with a rainbow of fruits and vegetables

That's according to the American Dietetic Association, which is encouraging the public to “eat right with color.”

That means choosing a rainbow of hues each day to infuse the diet with vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and fiber.

“We're talking about eating foods with different colors — red, green, blue, white, yellow, orange — because all these different foods and all these different colors provide different nutrients for our bodies,” said Amy Jamieson-Petonic, a spokeswoman for the association.

Think about your own diet. Sure you eat your potatoes, corn and iceberg lettuce. But when's the last time you had kale, jicama, beets, blackberries, avocado, squash or kiwi fruit?

“I don't know if we think about different things like blueberries and blackberries and strawberries and raspberries and kale and spinach and red peppers and orange peppers and yellow peppers and broccoli and cauliflower — all these good things,” said Jamieson-Petonic, a registered dietitian and director of coaching at the Cleveland Clinic.

Especially when it comes to vegetables, “many people are stuck in a rut, and they're scared to try something new,” said Dee Sandquist, also a registered dietitian and ADA spokeswoman.

The latest U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which were released in January, advise consumers to increase their consumption of fruits and vegetables.

One trick suggested by dietitians and the U.S. Department of Agriculture is to fill half your plate with fruits and vegetables.

“Many people tend to eat more of the high-fat, high-sugar foods and less of the vegetables,” Sandquist said. “We'd like to see half of the plate fruits and vegetables. A quarter of it (the plate) would be a whole grain, and a quarter of it a (lean) protein food.”

An overnight change isn't expected, though.