EARLIER this year, the Pakistan Association of Scientists and Scientific Professions (PASSP) arranged their 56th lecture. The speaker was Professor Rashida Ali, Consultant, Food Technology and Nutrition in the prestigious HEJ Research Institute, University of Karachi. Among things she said, Prof. Rashida emphasizsed that colourful eating is the key to good nutrition. Yet, the colour of the standard diet in Pakistani homes is off-white!

As a scientific investigator for over a decade, I have reached the conclusion that lack of good diet accounts for more common diseases, including cancer, heart ailments, diabetes and obesity than anything else. You may find it shocking, but eating fruits and vegetables does not guarantee that you are getting enough essential nutrients. That is because two of our favourite foods are potato and rice, food that are hardly nutritional at all.

What these two lack is colour. Foods that come in vivid hues contain an arsenal of disease fighting chemicals called phyto-nutrients. To get enough of these vital ingredients, just add a single serving, a cup or two of vegetables, a piece of fruit, a glass of juice from these seven colours to your usual whole grains, protein and otherwise healthy diet. It couldn’t be simpler!

People tell me this colour coded plan doesn’t look like a diet. Yet you will probably drop a few kilos as fruits and vegetables naturally edge out higher calorie breads, rice and samosas. You will also increase your intake of vitamins, minerals and fibre.