express news service
When it comes to healthy eating, people are often confused about what and how much to eat. The easiest way to make sure you’re eating well is to create a rainbow on your plate. You can do this by making your plate as colorful as possible with fruits, vegetables, and herbs. Include red, orange, yellow, green, blue…pretty much every color of the rainbow. The diversity ensures that you get enough antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals for good health.
Why are the different colors important? Phytochemicals and natural bioactive compounds are responsible for giving fruits and vegetables their color. They are all naturally disease-fighting, keeping heart disease, hypertension, blood pressure, vision loss, and even cancer at bay. Here’s breaking down the colors for you.
Lycopene (red): It reduces the risk of breast and prostate cancer, and improves the health of the heart, brain, and eyes. Get the most out of this chemical by adding watermelon, tomatoes, strawberries, red bell peppers, and grapefruit to your diet.
Beta carotene (orange): A precursor to vitamin A, this chemical has anti-cancer properties. It reduces inflammation, strengthens the immune system and improves vision. Foods rich in beta-carotene include carrots, apricots, yellow squash, and sweet potatoes.
Vitamin C and flavonoids (yellow): These foods are rich in antioxidants and inhibit the growth of tumor cells. Vitamin C and flavonoids detoxify the body, boost immunity, reduce inflammation, and improve heart health. Vitamin C is found in citrus fruits like oranges, lemons, kale, strawberries, and broccoli.
Folate (dark green): These foods help build healthy cells and genetic material. Rich in iron, they help maintain healthy hemoglobin levels. Folate-packed foods are also rich in chlorophyll, a plant pigment that helps increase blood oxygenation and acts as a blood purifier. Add asparagus, legumes, leafy greens, Brussels sprouts, and beet greens to your plate.
Indoles and lutein (light green): Rich in sulfur, indoles remove excess estrogen from the body and also support eye health. Foods that contain indoles include cabbage, Brussels sprouts, kale, mustard greens, and broccoli. Allyl sulfides and indoles are known to have anticancer properties and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Garlic, shallots, and onions have high amounts of allyl sulfides.
Anthocyanins (blue-purple): Anthocyanins destroy free radicals, reduce inflammation and are beneficial for the brain. These are found in foods such as eggplant, blueberries, plums, cherries, and grapes.
Resveratrol (pink): This compound helps decrease estrogen production and improves heart and brain health. Foods rich in resveratrol are peanuts, dark chocolate, blueberries, and grapes.
Fiber (brown): Fiber offers a wide range of health benefits. Helps regulate sugar levels, aids digestive health, helps control lipids, reduces blood sugar spikes, and helps with weight management. Add whole wheat, barley, bran, chickpeas, and lentils to your diet.
Ways you can create a rainbow on your plate:
✥ Stir-fried or sauteed vegetables
✥ Salad
✥ Chopped vegetables in lentils
✥ Soups with vegetables of different colors
✥ Rainbow sandwiches
✥ Vegetable sticks with healthy sauces
✥ Pulav with peas, beets, carrots and beans
Coutinho practices in the field of Holistic Nutrition — Integrative and Lifestyle Medicine, Founder of Luke Coutinho Holistic Healing Systems.
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