You may have heard us talk about the importance of ‘eating the rainbow’. Fruits and vegetables fall into five different color categories: red, purple/blue, green, white/brown and yellow/orange and eating all these colors is a great measure for a healthy eating lifestyle.
Red foods like tomatoes, grapefruit, and watermelon contain the carotenoid lycopene which help the body get rid of free radicals.
Orange foods like carrots, mangoes, apricots, cantaloupes, pumpkin, acorn squash, winter squash, sweet potatoes contain alpha-carotene, which can help protect against certain types of cancer.
Purple (red/blue) foods like beets, eggplant, purple grapes, prunes, cranberries, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, red apples are good for heart health. Antioxidants known as anthocyanins in these fruits and vegetables may help protect your heart health by preventing blood clots.
Yellow foods like pineapple, oranges, tangerines, peaches, papayas, and nectarines contain beta cryptothanxin, which help your cells communicate with each other.
Green foods like spinach, collard greens, mustard greens, turnip greens, yellow corn, green peas, avocado, honeydew melon contain carotenoids, lutein, and zeaxanthin, which are believed to reduce the macular degeneration that comes with aging. Green foods like broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, bok choy, kale contain the chemicals sulforaphane and isocyanate which help ward off cancer by inhibiting carcinogens.
White (green, brown) foods like leeks, scallions, garlic, onions, celery, peas, endives, chives contain antioxidant flavonoids like quercetin and kaempferol, which help protect your cells from damage.
Each color carries its own set of unique disease fighting substances and eating a variety of colors is a great way to guarantee your body is getting a variety of minerals and nutrients it needs.
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