Eating the Rainbow: The Science of Colorful, Plant-based Food and Practical Strategies with Dr. Deanna Minich, MS, PhD, FACN, CNS, IFMCP

Over the past decades, thousands of published studies have amassed supporting recommendations to consume fruits and vegetables for physiological and psychological health. Newer research has emerged to suggest that these plant-based foods contain a plethora of not only vitamins and minerals, but perhaps, most importantly, phytonutrients. These phytonutrients have known pleiotropic effects on cellular structure and function, ultimately resulting in the modulation of protein kinases and subsequent epigenetic modification in a manner that leads to improved outcomes. Even though eating fruits and vegetables is a well-known feature of a healthy dietary pattern, population intakes continue to be below federal recommendations. To encourage consumers to include fruits and vegetables into their diet, an “eat by color” approach is proposed in this presentation. Although each individual food may have numerous effects based on its constituents, the goal of this simplified approach was to identify general patterns of benefits based on the preponderance of scientific data and known mechanisms of food-based constituents. It is suggested that such a consumer-oriented categorization of these plant-based foods may lead to greater recognition of their importance in the daily diet throughout the lifespan. Other adjunctive strategies to heighten awareness of fruits and vegetables are discussed.
Objectives:
To learn the science to support the inclusion of plant-based foods for reducing chronic disease risk
To understand how the colors of plant foods coincide with their functionality in the body
To apply concepts learned from the benefits of eating plant foods into clinical practice

Dr. Deanna Minich is a nutrition researcher, educator, and functional medicine-trained clinician with a unique approach to nutrition that combines physiology and psychology. She has served on the Institute of Functional Medicine’s Nutrition Advisory Board and curriculum committee, in addition to being a faculty member, teaching nutrition for the Advanced Practice Module for Environmental Health. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for the American Nutrition Association and is President of the American College of Nutrition. Her academic background is in nutritional science, including a Master’s Degree in Human Nutrition and Dietetics from the University of Illinois at Chicago (1995), and a Ph.D. in Medical Sciences (Nutrition) from the University of Groningen in The Netherlands (1999). She is a Fellow of the American College of Nutrition and a Certified Nutrition Specialist. Dr. Minich has over twenty years of experience working in both the food and dietary supplement industries, and has more than forty published scientific articles in journals such as Nutrients, Journal of Nutrition and Metabolism, and Nutrition Reviews. She teaches for the graduate program (MS) in Human Nutrition and Functional Medicine at the University of Western States and serves as advisor to various food, academic and health organizations. She is the author of six books on nutrition, wellness, and psychology, and is passionate in helping others to live well using therapeutic lifestyle changes. Visit her at: www.deannaminich.com