| If you are trying to be a healthy eater, you may | | | | disease. |
| already pay attention to vitamins, minerals and the | | | | RED plant foods include tomatoes, guava, rosehip, |
| basic food groups. It might surprise you to learn that | | | | watermelon and pink grapefruit. |
| many experts on healthy diets also recommend paying | | | | YELLOW/ORANGE plant foods contain alpha and |
| attention to the color of your food. | | | | beta caratene, as well as lutein and zeaxanthin. These |
| Where I live, every Friday is Fish Fry day. Many of the | | | | substance are important for heart and eye health. |
| restaurants in town offer "Fish Fry" on Fridays, and, it | | | | YELLOW/ORANGE plant foods include pumpkin, |
| seems, nearly everyone eats Fish Fry on that day. | | | | carrots, canteloupe, apricots, sweet potatoes, and |
| "Fish Fry" is almost always a dinner of fried fish, baked | | | | winter squash. |
| potato with sour cream, and cole slaw. Something | | | | GREEN plant foods can have sulforaphane, |
| started bothering me about the Fish Fry plate, and in | | | | isocyanate and indoles which protect cells and may |
| time I realized it was the color of the selections: the | | | | help fight cancer growth, as well ascatechins and |
| fish was white (on the inside), the potato was white, | | | | quercetin that may help the heart. |
| the sour cream was white, and so was the cole slaw. | | | | GREEN plant foods include spinach, broccoli, cabbage, |
| There was no color variety on the plate! | | | | peas, avocado, kiwi, brussels sprouts, as well as herbs |
| The colors in many plant foods are often provided by | | | | such as oregano, dill and parsley. |
| substances known as phytonutrients. Scientists have | | | | RED/PURPLE plant foods contain anthocyanins which |
| determined that these phytonutrients have many | | | | help with blood flow, and may slow the aging of cells |
| health bestowing properties. Many researchers now | | | | RED/PURPLE foods include beets, blackberries, |
| suggest that we can improve our health, perhaps | | | | blueberries, currants, cherry, eggplant, and grape juice. |
| significantly, by eating a diet rich in colorful plant foods. | | | | So how about that fish fry? Go ahead with the fish, |
| They even suggest that in order to eat healthy, we try | | | | with some lemon (Yellow) for flavor, and include a |
| to include every color of the rainbow in our daily diet. | | | | spinach (Green) salad, and switch from a white baked |
| What are these colors? In school we learned | | | | potato to a sweet potato (Orange). Be sure to include |
| ROYGBIV-red, orange, yellow, green,blue, indigo, and | | | | the other color groups during the course of the day for |
| violet. The idea for good nutrition is to eat a diet that | | | | best nutrition. |
| falls across this range every day. | | | | By eating a range of deeply colored foods from |
| RED plant foods contain lycopene. Lycopene appears | | | | across the rainbow spectrum, we can maximize the |
| to rid the body of free radicals, which are known to | | | | health benefit of the foods we eat. |
| harm genes. Lycopene may help protect against | | | | This article is FREE to publish when you include the |
| prostate and breast cancer, and also lung and heart | | | | resource box in its entirety. |