Why eating rainbow food is good for your health

Fantastical rainbow-coloured ‘unicorn’ recipes are a staple of our Instagram feeds. Pictures range from lattes swirled with artificial pinks and purples to bright smoothie bowls made from all-natural ingredients.

Vegetarian and vegan Instagrammers have made this style their own. Food stylist Adeline Waugh is best known for her viral photos of unicorn toast. She blends natural colourings with cream cheese to create dreamy rainbow toppings in pastel shades.

There are blue and purple noodles courtesy of Sydney-based The Sun-kissed Kitchen, using red cabbage to add a violet tint. Then there’s Taline Gabrielian, author of Hippie Lane: The Cookbook, whose plant-based recipes are bursting with natural colour.

Part of the appeal of unicorn food is that it’s fun and pretty to look at, but using a range of naturally colourful ingredients can be healthy too.

Kirsten says that colours are a good guide to the nutrients found in fruit and vegetables, as each carries its own unique set of disease-fighting chemicals called phytochemicals. Red fruit and veg are coloured by lycopene, a powerful antioxidant that can reduce your risk of cancer. The rich purples and blues found in berries come from another antioxidant, anthocyanin.

Did your mum ever tell you that carrots can help you to see in the dark? Well, there’s some truth in that old tale. Oranges and yellows indicate that a fruit or vegetable is a good source of beta carotene, which your body converts into vitamin A.

As well as supporting your immune system and keeping your skin in good condition, vitamin A also helps your vision in low light.

Don’t forget to eat your greens either, as these are full of carotenoids, indoles and saponins, which also have anti-cancer properties. Leafy greens, such as spinach and broccoli, are also excellent sources of folate, which we know is essential for a healthy pregnancy, but is also good for your heart, brain, cholesterol levels and more.

Eating the rainbow is a way of healthy eating we can all get behind. “If we focus on colour from natural sources, it can’t be a bad thing,” Kirsten agrees. So embrace your inner unicorn and try these beautiful rainbow recipes by food blogger Bo Porterfield.

Rainbow recipes to make at home

Sharing her colourful recipes and love of vegan food inspired 31-year-old Harriet ‘Bo’ Porterfield to create Bo’s Kitchen. Bo’s love of food began at an early age. Her first words were “gone” and “more”, so it seemed only natural she’d pursue a career in the food industry! By day, she works for a food and drink delivery company, and in her spare time she develops recipes for her blog.

The technicolor recipes on Bo’s blog are both beautiful and healthy – and they’re all vegan, as Bo’s been a vegan for 10 years. “It was partly for health and partly for ethical reasons, but mainly because I wanted to see if I could do it,” she says. “I was raised a vegetarian and one day I was in a supermarket and just thought, ‘I’ll give it a go’.”

While Bo’s recipes are extremely healthy, she definitely has a sweet tooth – her Instagram feed is dominated by pictures of desserts, from pancakes to parfaits. “I used to be a huge fan of fizzy sweets and my friend called me Haribo, which was shortened to Bo,” she explains. Bo doesn’t eat non-vegan sweets any more, but aims to create “sweet, colourful food that’s good for you.” “I dig anything that looks sugar-laden but isn’t,” she explains. “My food is all really healthy and there’s no downside to what I cook.”

Bursting with nutrients, vitamins and anti-oxidants, these foods will give you even more of the good stuff and promise to add a vibrant touch to your increasingly colourful meals.

As well as adding a pretty pink shade to your food, whether used fresh orin the form of powder, beetroot has numerous health benefits. It increases antioxidants in your blood, reduces blood pressure and can help improve your stamina. Many athletes swear by it, including Paralympic gold medallist David Weir. Drink beetroot juice before hitting the gym and work out like a pro.