Colour Your Food for a Healthier You!

Colourful nutrition advice from renowned nutritionist and author of Rainbow Recipes, Barbara Cox.
 
When talking fruit and veg, the government advises that we eat ‘Five a Day’. That’s certainly a good start, but if I was the Prime Minister I’d change that to ‘Five Colours a Day’. That way we’d hopefully find ourselves eating more than five different kinds of fruit and vegetables daily, but it would mean we’d also benefit from the additional health-promoting properties of eating naturally pigmented food.
 
Natural food pigments, known technically as carotenoids, are one kind of an important class of disease-fighting biochemicals with a very suitable (but coincidental) name: phytochemicals!  Acting as antioxidants and immune response boosters, these chemicals are believed to be very important in providing protection against cancer and heart disease.

Listed below are some commonly available colourful fruit and vegetables and some of the benefits associated with their pigments.
 
Pigmented Fruit & Vegetables and their Benefits

Red
Beetroot, cranberries,pomegranate, tomatoes

These foods are a source of vitamin A and the antioxidant lycopene.

Orange
Butternut squash, pumpkin, oranges, swede, peaches

These are great sources of vitamins A and C.

Yellow /White
Parsnips, turnip, celeriac, chestnuts, garlic

These foods are a good immune boosters and sources of calcium and iron.

Green
Cabbage, pears, leeks, Brussels’ sprouts

These contain chlorophyll, which is very important in cleansing the blood.

Blue /Purple
Blackberries, blueberries, aubergine, ‘red’ cabbage

These foods provide folate, potassium, and vitamins A and C.

Incorporating this rainbow of foods into your daily regime at home and work is easier than you might imagine and will give you huge benefits in terms of your general health and wellbeing.
 
Wishing you a Rainbow Day!

Barbara Cox 
 
To buy a copy of Barbara’s cookbook Rainbow Recipes and find out more about her nutritional consultancy, visit: www.bcnutrition.co.uk