Eat A Rainbow - Not only is a rainbow a 'feast' for the eyes, the colors of a rainbow are a 'feast' found in the colorful fruits and vegetables that provide incredible nutritional value!
Phytonutrients
The pigments giving fruits and vegetables their beautiful colors are actually naturally-occurring plant compounds known as phytonutrients or phytochemicals. Phytonutrients provide extensive benefits to one's health. Many act as antioxidants, defending our cells and tissues against damage from normal, everyday metabolism; while others have more specific roles such as supporting immune system function and eye health.
The Colors of the Rainbow
The largest group of phytonutrients in nature are the 'carotenoids' - pigments such as lycopene that give tomatoes their red color, beta-carotene that give carrots their orange hue and yellow-green lutein that tints foods like spinach, avocado and romaine lettuce.
Another group of phytonutrients are 'anthocyanins', a group of compounds that give foods their red-purple colors found in berries. Not all phytonutrients have color. Onion and garlic are colorless, have a strong odor and they also have beneficial sulfur compounds.
Each fruit and vegetable has its own unique pigments and phytochemical profile and the level of antioxidant activity varies. So it's not only important to eat an abundance of fruits and vegetables in one's diet, but to also eat a wide variety.
Primary Benefits
The antioxidant effects of phytonutrients are one of their primary benefits. Oxidation is a natural process that occurs in our body as the result of everyday metabolism. If this oxidation process isn't kept in check, it can cause damage to cells and tissues. The antioxidants help our body defend itself. This 'oxidative stress' is believed to play a role in the development of many common chronic diseases.
Research tells us that combining the many different fruits and vegetables may be more beneficial than eating them alone. The effects of phytonutrients are enhanced when they are combined - so the sum of their benefits is greater than the individual parts. Mixing up a salad with red apples, blueberries, grapes and oranges has a greater antioxidant effect than when eaten individually.
Did You Know?
Chopping, grinding and cooking carotenoid-rich foods helps to release the powerful substances from the cell walls of the plant, making them up to six times more available to the body.
Herbs and spices are plant foods too and have many of the health benefits of fruits and veggies.
Bio-availability means nutrients are 'body ready'.
Frozen veggies retain their nutrients as long as you cook them while frozen.
It is estimated that more than 5,000 pytonutrients have been identified out of the more than 150,000 edible plants on the earth.
Modern humans eat only a fraction of edible plants - about 150-200 world wide.
There are over 2,000 known plant pigments in foods and the different colors in fruits and vegetables can indicate their unique physiological roles and health benefits.
A Fun Snack Aisle
Think of the produce department in your supermarket as your snack aisle. Load up on whole fruits, baby carrots, cherry tomatoes, apples, berries, snap peas and anything else you might like. Be creative, make a salad and mix fruits with the veggies in your salad. Choose spinach, leaf lettuce or kale as a salad base if you like. Try some fruit or veggie you have never tasted before.
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