The Greek philosopher, Hippocrates, knew it long ago and emphasised the incredible healing power of food when he said: “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” For decades, many studies have also established that a healthy, whole food diet has many health benefits and improved subjective quality of living. Many alternative healing practitioners have propagated a holistic dietary approach that incorporates eating the rainbow diet or food for chakras to help bring the best fuel for the body and balance the body’s energy system. In this article, you will see the connection between eating a rich, whole food rainbow diet matching the corresponding chakras that bring clean fuel, vitality, and balance to your body.
Rainbow diet: Food for the body and chakras
You might be wondering, what the heck is the rainbow diet? Dr. Deanna Minick, author of The Rainbow Diet, describes it as “a comprehensive holistic health guide that helps you to understand the physical and energetic properties of foods through their colors.” Rainbow food is an intelligent and life-supporting approach to health and well-being that includes a variety of fresh, rich, and vibrant vegetables and fruits that contain phytonutrients that give plants their colors, natural taste, and aroma. There is plenty of scientific literature that supports how eating rainbow food, high in phytonutrients, vitamins, and minerals, can support health and longevity.
According to this rainbow diet system, every food nutrient has a “color code” matching the colors that your body and chakra system need, and as you eat these foods, you decrease your risk for chronic lifestyle disease while increasing your energy levels and your overall balance and well-being. With a 5-Strands functional health assessment test, you could determine whether you suffer from any type of food intolerance and if any dietary changes are necessary to improve your level of energy and vitality. You could also determine if supplements are needed in combination with whole and natural food to fill your nutrient gaps.
Balancing your energy with whole and rainbow food
Understanding the connection between whole food, including rich, colorful, and natural ingredients that match your chakras, is important to keeping your body’s energy levels and the chakra energy centers functioning optimally. According to the science of Yoga, our bodies are surrounded by a pulsing energy field, composed of seven energy centers or Chakras, a Sanskrit word meaning “wheel.” The seven chakra centers are interconnected along the axis of your spine and are invisible to the human eye, serving as “conductors” that keep energy flowing throughout the body for optimal physical well-being and energy function.
On a cellular level, our bodies use this energy flow for optimal metabolic function and energy balance throughout the body’s systems. It is thought that, because of how these chakra energy centers intercommunicate, when one chakra center is out of balance, all the others will be impacted. Each chakra center has its vibrational energy and color, and as you bring food with similar vibrations and colors, it will help open any blocked chakra center and harmonize the flow of energy throughout the whole physical and chakra energy system.
The rainbow diet and the corresponding chakra centers system
For over ten years, I’ve enjoyed a plant-based diet that includes colorful and natural sources of energy and have learned to incorporate into my lifestyle daily habits that support this dietary choice. You can enjoy many health benefits when you incorporate a whole food, rich, rainbow diet with a wide range of colorful foods and phytochemicals into your lifestyle. You may also enjoy more emotional and psychological energy, balance, and well-being. Rainbow food symbolizes food that matches the seven colors of the rainbow and the chakra centers. We have 7 chakra energy centers in the body, which are believed to support our physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual well-being.
Whether you need to reduce inflammation in the body, get rid of fatigue and increase your energy level, support your memory function, improve mobility or circulation, or help detoxify your liver, the rainbow diet can significantly aid you in obtaining the necessary nutrients and improve your overall health. The food colors you bring into your body will also help you balance the energy flow of the corresponding chakra center, bringing a more harmonious and holistic balance throughout your body. Here’s an overview of the seven rainbow color groups and their corresponding chakras and benefits.
Red Foods -Root Chakra (Muladhara)
Representing our grounding and foundation, the energy center where we develop our sense of safety is the root chakra, which is located at the base of our spine. It is believed to be an earth element center, and the rainbow foods corresponding to this chakra are red. Rich and red-colored whole foods provide many health and energy benefits, including energy and balance. These include: Tomatoes, red peppers, red apples, radishes, strawberries, red spinach, pomegranates, and raspberries. Here you can also add root vegetables that grow beneath the ground and absorb large quantities of nutrients and vitamins from the soil, and are rich in vitamin C, folate, antioxidants, and beta carotene. Some root vegetables with the highest concentrations of earth nutrients include ginger, beets, carrots, sweet potatoes, turnips, garlic, parsnips, onions, rutabaga, turmeric, and jicama.
Orange Foods- Sacral Chakra (Svadhisthana)
Orange foods relate to the sacral chakra, and this center is located in the lower abdomen. This chakra is related to the water element and represents your capacity for letting energy flow, intimacy, creativity, emotions, connection, and passion. Orange foods contain a wide range of nutrients that can enhance the quality of your overall health. You can help your body and balance this chakra by eating foods like peaches, apricots, mangoes, oranges, carrots, orange peppers, sweet potatoes, papayas, pumpkins, whole grain pasta, quinoa, and honey. You can also include omega-3 rich foods which can aid in cardiovascular health and inflammation, such as salmon, almonds, walnuts, flaxs, and sesame seeds. Adding spices like cinnamon and plenty of water can also aid your body.
Yellow Foods- Solar Plexus Chakra (Manipura)
The solar plexus chakra is located in the upper abdomen; it’s related to the fire element and connects you to your personal power and confidence. It is believed that an imbalanced solar plexus chakra can be related to a lack of purpose and digestive issues. You can incorporate into your diet yellow foods matching the vibration of this chakra, including pineapples, yellow curry, corn, bananas, whole grains, cereals, yogurt, and cheese. You can also include complex carbohydrates such as oats, spouted grains, spelt, farro, rye, beans, and brown rice. Fiber-rich foods such as these can help increase your energy levels. Studies have also shown the role of fiber in the gut microbiome in reducing inflammation.
Green Foods-Heart Chakra (Anahata)
Green foods match the vibration of the heart chakra, which is located in the center of the chest. This energy center is related to the air element, and it’s connected to love, forgiveness, and inner peace. The heart chakra supports the heart, lungs, upper torso, shoulders, and arms. As a long-distance runner, I make sure to have green color smoothies four to five times a week and feel the incredible benefits of this clean source of energy. Some green and nutrient-rich foods that will benefit your whole body and balance your energy include broccoli, cabbage, arugula, celery, dandelion greens, spinach, chard, kale, green beans, lettuce, lentils, bean sprouts, green apples, kiwi, zucchini, and cucumber. Other beneficial green foods you can incorporate into your diet are avocado, lime, mint, matcha, green tea, spirulina, and peas.
Blue Foods-Throat Chakra (Vishuddha)
Blue foods are believed to support this chakra center, which is related to expression and communication. This chakra center is located in the throat area and is believed to support the neck, throat, jaw, and teeth. Vibrant blue foods can be a source of protein, contain powerful antioxidant nutrients that can enhance your body’s healing properties and energy levels. Blue foods you can include in your diet are blueberries, blackberries, concord grapes, blue tomatoes, dragon fruit, herbal teas, blue matcha, plums, seaweed, blue spirulina, and other fish and sea products.
Indigo Foods- Third Eye Chakra (Ajna)
Indigo (purple) foods are other powerful sources of rich nutrients matching the third eye chakra, located between the eyebrows. As the light element chakra, it is associated with intuition and wisdom, and supports the frontal sinus, eyes, and ears. Indigo-rich foods contain anthocyanins that have great benefits like protection against heart disease and cancer, improved brain health, and reduced inflammation. Some indigo foods that can influence this chakra and support your well-being are is figs, eggplant, beetroot, purple cauliflower, purple potatoes, plums, purple lettuce, purple carrots, prunes, purple grapes, lavender, black currants, and acai berries.
Fasting-Detoxing-Meditation- Crown Chakra (Sahasrara)
The crown chakra is the last one on our list. Located at the top of your head, it is the least dense of all the chakras, and an energy center related to self-realization and spiritual connection. There is no specific food color associated with this energy center because at this level of well-being, the focus is more on activities that support spiritual aspects of our lives, including meditation, prayer, fasting, and contemplation. Since the food energy connected to this chakra is light and pure, you can incorporate light and clean, unprocessed food that supports purifying the body. This may include pure water and herbal teas. Fasting and detoxing can help balance this chakra center, flush out toxins from your body, boost energy, and bring balance to your mind. I’ve incorporated lifestyle practices that include fasting, meditation, water detox, breathing, and yoga asana exercises, and other purifying activities that have helped me calm my mind, detox my body, and bring a higher spiritual connection and awareness into my life.
Physical and psychological energy and balance
You may be asking yourself, but how does eating rainbow food that matches your chakra energy centers balance the body’s energy for optimal health? There is now abundant data supporting how fresh rainbow food rich in multiple minerals, vitamins, antioxidants and neuroprotective properties can contribute to a wide range of health benefits, including preventing the onset of chronic illness like cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer, support digestion, proper cellular function, allowing the body to use fresh and clean sources of energy fuel that can balance the entire organism.
The flavonoids present in rainbow food have also been associated with mood enhancement, possibly helping alleviate stress and anxiety and preserving your psychological and emotional energy and balance. The health outcomes of whole and natural rainbow food are significantly better than those of unhealthy and processed foods that deprive the body of proper nutrients and energy. If you suffer from a lack of energy and fatigue and are looking for ways to improve your overall well-being, a 5-Strands personalized health insight can help you achieve your wellness goals.
Rainbow food and the gut microbiome
The role of whole and colorful foods on the gut microbiome has been documented in multiple studies in recent years. It is now known that whole foods, especially fruits and vegetables, influence the gut microbiota during different life cycles when people may be more susceptible to different chronic diseases, helping with prevention and improvement. The role of whole rainbow food on gut health goes beyond physical health, as multiple studies have found a link between the impact of fresh and healthy food and improvements in gut health, mood, depression, and anxiety. Since the gut produces about 95% of the body’s serotonin, a well-balanced, whole food diet, including fermented food, will play a crucial role in maintaining a well-balanced gut health and serotonin levels.
In summary
Whether you need to improve your energy levels, reduce inflammation and pain, or simply lose a few extra pounds to improve your physical health, eating a colorful and rich rainbow diet may be a powerful and life-enhancing option. With all of the demands of modern life, it is crucial to make optimal use of the beneficial compounds in whole and natural food. Balancing your body’s energy while nurturing the microbiome through natural foods and healthy lifestyle patterns can significantly improve your overall quality of health and well-being.
While 5Strands encourages customers to welcome a whole food diet for optimal health and well-being, it is equally important that they follow their testing results to make well-informed decisions on the foods that may be creating blockages within each chakra center. With this approach, people execute a plan that incorporates rotating food in and out of their diet to harmoniously support chakra energy flow, optimal health, and vitality.
