Unit 1: Chapter 4 Questions

1.  I've heard it's good to "eat the rainbow," meaning to eat as many colors of fresh fruits and vegetables as possible.  Does this actually have any health benefit?

• According to the Australian government, eating a serving of each color of vegetable is extremely beneficial to the human body. I found a whole list of recommendations related to the ingestion of items from each color group.  
• Source: https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/blog/blogcollectionpage/eat-a-rainbow

2.  How can you tell if something is or isn't "whole grain?"

• There is a wonderful article available online that details the differences between the different available sources of flour including whole wheat flour, enriched wheat flour, and refined wheat flour.  It shows that there is a serious imbalance of nutrients in the enriched and refined flours compared to the whole grain flour.  
• Sharon Denny (MS, RDN) recommends label reading to help with adding whole grains to the diet.  "Not everything that is 'multi-grain' is actually whole grain," she says.  The best way is to check the label to make sure the item lists "whole-wheat" or "whole-grain."
• Sources: https://wholegrainscouncil.org/whole-grains-101/whats-whole-grain-refined-grain
• https://www.eatright.org/food/nutrition/dietary-guidelines-and-myplate/how-to-add-whole-grains-to-your-diet

3.  Which vegetables are the most nutritious?

• Spinach is about top of the list, so says Rachael Link (RS, RDN).  She follows it up with carrots, broccoli and garlic.  
• Web MD has a different top four list of veggies.  Beet greens made first place, followed by beets and micro-greens.  
• According to livestrong.com, brussel sprouts take the number one spot.  Next are onions, sweet potatoes and spinach.  
• My take away from all this is that there are a lot of good veggies, and nobody knows which ones are actually better than the others.  Just eat them all.  Yolo.
• Sources: https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/14-healthiest-vegetables-on-earth#section3
• https://www.livestrong.com/slideshow/1009140-18-nutritious-vegetables/?slide=2
• https://www.webmd.com/diet/ss/slideshow-powerhouse-vegetable

4.  What are the best foods to eat for skin health?

• An article on WebMD states that Selenium in certain plants such as mushrooms and Brazil nuts may help fight free radicals in the skin cells and ward off certain types of cancers.  The article also recommends eating colorful fruits and vegetables for their antioxidant properties and whole-grains for the CoQ10 antioxidant (which presumably helps stave off wrinkles and other signs of old age).
• Source: https://www.webmd.com/beauty/ss/slideshow-skin-foods

5.  Is alcohol okay to consume in small quantities?

• There are mixed opinions on this subject drawn from a number of studies.  Some studies show that the odds of contracting a number of cancers are increased many times with the regular consumption of a few alcoholic beverages.  Other studies show there may be slight benefits or even more than slight benefits to drinking a very small amount of alcohol.  My conclusion is that it is better to avoid alcohol as much as possible because the serious risks outweigh the slight potential benefits.
• Source: https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/addiction/news/20140814/amount-alcohol#2