Rainbow colors of foods yield cornucopia of health
Rainbow colors of foods yield cornucopia of health
Wide variety combats many chronic diseases
You’ve been telling your patients forever that they need to add more fruits and vegetables to their diets. You’ve probably hyped the "High Five" until you’re blue in the face.
Now there’s an amazingly simple and easy-to-follow recommendation that not only adds more fruits and veggies to the day’s intake, but provides a cornucopia of nutrients that many Americans are missing. Tell your patients to eat the rainbow.
That means, in the simplest terms, eat at least one food a day from each of the major color groups: red; orange/yellow; green; blue/purple; and white/green. The bright, beautiful colors are as close as the nearest supermarket. It’s not necessary to remember to take handfuls of pills or cook anything particularly unusual. It’s easy to remember and works like a charm. (See "Eat the Rainbow," below.)
"Look at the typical American dinner plate. It’s probably got meat, potatoes, perhaps some corn, and maybe a piece of bread. What are the colors? Beige and white," says University of California, Los Angeles nutrition researcher David Heber, MD, director of the University’s Center for Human Nutrition. "Instead of recommending more fruit and vegetable intake, the trick is to add variety so they’re eating as many colors as possible every day."
There are more than 25,000 phytonutrients known to science — and the typical American diet is sadly limited to a few hundred found in commonly eaten foods, Heber says. Americans eat about 20 fruits and vegetables on a regular basis, while the long-lived Mediterranean people enjoy twice that number regularly and the Japanese, with their low cancer rate, average nine vegetables in a single meal.
"Humans are genetically coded to be attracted to brightly colored foods that are nutritionally essential," says dietitian Carol Haggans, RD, MSRD, spokeswoman for the American Institute for Cancer Research in Washington, DC. "It is interesting that research bears out that the more intense hues we find in fruits and vegetables, the more helpful they are to maintaining health, especially in view of the growing body of re-search that indicates these foods help protect against cancer."
Eating the rainbow brings with it scientifically validated protection against cancer and heart disease and helps bring about weight loss, further reducing the risk of many chronic diseases. Haggans suggests that combining brightly colored foods provides a phytonutrient soup that may work synergistically to create and even restore health, and does it much more efficiently than supplements.
Heber notes the results of several scientific studies that show:
- The risk from many common forms of cancer are reduced by 50% in countries where a pound of fruits and vegetables is the common daily intake.
- Virtually every disease of aging — heart disease, diabetes, and many common forms of cancer, such as breast and prostate cancer — results from damage to DNA, which can be reduced by substances found in fruits and vegetables. About 80-90% of all cancers are not inherited, but result from the defects in DNA occurring throughout a lifetime from accumulated damage that could be prevented by increasing fruit and vegetable intake.
- More than 90% of all diabetes is associated with overeating and obesity (which Heber calls "diabesity") and will account for 70-80% of all heart disease deaths in the next 10 years.
- Damage to DNA results from excess oxygen radicals that are produced as part of normal cell function. The production of oxygen radicals increases with aging and probably is involved in Alzheimer’s disease, other brain disorders, and the process of aging itself.
- The body depends on phytochemicals to back up natural DNA defense mechanisms, and this becomes more important with aging.
"Although this is not a weight-loss diet per se, many people lose some weight as they begin to eat more fruits and vegetables and substitute healthy foods for sugary, high-fat snacks," Heber says.
Here’s a breakdown of the health benefits associated with brightly colored foods:
- Red: Crimson foods get their color from lycopene, a powerful antioxidant effective in mopping up cell-damaging free radicals and cutting the risk of certain cancers — including breast and cervical cancers — by 35% or more. Unlike many other foods, tomato products are best eaten cooked and/or canned, such as in spaghetti sauce, tomato juice, salsa, and tomato soup, because heat breaks down the cell walls of the plant, making the lycopene more bioavailable. More than 80% of the lycopene consumed by Americans comes from tomato products.
- Orange: The old saying about eating your carrots and being able to see at night has some basis in truth. Heavily orange-hued foods are abundant sources of alpha- and beta-carotene, often known as carotenoids, which the liver converts to vitamin A and retinol, key nutrients needed for retinal health, immune system strength, and healthy cell division. Orange-colored fruits and vegetables include mangos, sweet potatoes, squash, and cantaloupe. Tomato products, in the red group, also are good sources of carotenoids.
- Orange/yellow: This group, which includes oranges, tangerines, peaches, papayas, and nectarines, contains a unique carotenoid called B-cryptoxanthin that has its own antioxidant capabilities. Although B-cryptoxanthin is available in other foods, Heber strongly suggests selecting foods from this group that likely contain other plant nutrients that contribute to a diverse diet.
- Yellow/green: The carotenoids ladder continues through this food group with spinach, collard, mustard, and turnip greens and a variety of other vegetables that provide lutein and zeaxanthin, carotenoids essential to eye health. Low intakes have been associated with cataracts and age-related macular degeneration, the primary preventable cause of blindness in the United States.
- Green: Cruciferous vegetables — broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, bok choy, and kale — are all powerful sources of sulforaphane, indoles, and isothiocyanates, which form complexes in the digestive tract that bind chemical carcinogens and trigger detoxification enzymes. Stomach acid helps to form the indole-carcinogen complexes. In addition, research suggests that indoles stimulate enzymes that make estrogen less effective, a potential help in fighting breast cancer.
- Red/purple: Anthocyanins in red/purple foods such as cherries, plums, blueberries, cranberries, apples, and beets offer antioxidant protection that has been shown to have a cardioprotective effect by inhibiting platelet aggregation. They also are rich sources of bioflavonoids, which have an anti-inflammatory effect similar to the Cox-2 inhibitors used to relieve symptoms of arthritis. There are studies currently under way to determine what role anthocyanins may have in lowering cholesterol and preventing certain types of cancer.
- White/green: Plants in the onion family contain allicin, which has been shown to have anti-tumor effects. Foods in this group, such as celery, mushrooms, and asparagus, are rich sources of flavonoids (quercetin and kaempferol) and antioxidants, which have been shown to protect the digestive system against ulcers and inhibit the growth of ovarian cancers. Garlic and other members of the onion family have long been used as remedies for high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
Eat the Rainbow
- Red: Tomatoes and all tomato-based products, including tomato sauce, salsa, and juice; watermelon; and pink grapefruit.
- Orange: Squash, carrots, mango, pumpkin, sweet potato, cantaloupe, and mango.
- Orange/yellow: Nectarine, orange, papaya, tangerine, peach, pineapple, and yellow grapefruit.
- Yellow/green: Corn, avocado, cucumber, peas, green beans, green bell peppers, honeydew melon, mustard greens, romaine lettuce, spinach, and zucchini.
- Green: Broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, kale, cauliflower, and Swiss chard.
- Blue/purple: Blueberries, grapes, red wine, prunes, plums, cranberries, eggplant, cherries, beets, red peppers, apple, strawberries, and red cabbage.
- White/green: Onions, garlic, asparagus, celery, mushrooms, artichoke, endive, and leeks.
Key Points
- Vividly colored foods contain the highest quantity and quality nutrients.
- Easy-to-remember diet recommendation: eat at least one serving a day of red; orange/yellow; green; blue/purple; and white/green vegetables.
- This diet has been shown to prevent cancer and heart disease, and encourages weight loss.
Subscribe Now for Access
You have reached your article limit for the month. We hope you found our articles both enjoyable and insightful. For information on new subscriptions, product trials, alternative billing arrangements or group and site discounts please call 800-688-2421. We look forward to having you as a long-term member of the Relias Media community.