Biocera Weekly Newsletter Vol. 3, September
Coloring My Plate?
I remember back in 2009, when I was in Paris. It was sometime around November that I sat in a caf. Then through the window I saw many people passing by, most of them wearing black. It was very unicolor. Then I looked down on my brunch plate, and it was also very “uniquely unicolor”mostly green. I was somewhat feeling proud (!) to have a “well-being” meal because we were always told that “eating green” is a good diet to stay healthy. However, recently I have found that “coloring your plate with a rainbow of vegetables” is better than eating just green leafy veggies.
It is not an exaggeration to say that in the contemporary society, many people have inappropriate eating habits. Or, people sometimes do not eat at all, skipping meals due to hectic schedules. They neglect the fact that their eating habits can actually make them suffer from chronic diseases such as blood pressure, heart diseases and even cancer in the near future. So in this newsletter, I would like you to pay attention to the importance of taking “plant nutrients”and eat more colorful and more healthful.
Health Alert: Free Radicals Are Attacking Your Body
No one can disagree with the fact that eating vegetables and fruits is necessary for maintaining physical fitness. As people are increasingly exposed to different kinds of environmental pollutions, stress, drinking and smoking, they need clever solutions to control the free radicals (active oxygen) in the body, one of which is taking antioxidant substances like plant nutrients. Yet people do not seem to care much about this. Or they do, but they fail to eat healthy because there are so many other things to take care of. Eating healthy can be sometimes cumbersome for some people.
Vegetables and Fruits Have Different Effects According to their Colors
Let’s point on the rainbow color by color and which ones go into color family tree.
Red: Pomegranates, Grapefruits, Raspberries, Cranberries, Strawberries, Apples, Tomatoes, Watermelons...
Orange or Yellow: Carrots, Corns, Sweet Potatoes, Oranges, Peaches, Nectarines, Mangoes, Lemons...
Green: Broccoli, Spinach, Cabbage, Lettuce, Asparagus, Celery, Kiwi, Avocados, Green Apples, Green Grapes...
Purple: Grapes, Eggplant, Blueberries, Raisins, Plums, Black Beans...
White: Pears, Mushrooms, Onions, Garlic, Potatoes, Bananas...
The above-mentioned list shows some of the ingredients for a rainbow diet. When we look at the nutritious elements that each color has, red fruits and vegetables have lycopene which is good for liver, stomach and prostate, and ellagic acid which has anti-aging effects. Yellow or orange colored fruits and vegetables contain alpha-carotene and hesperidin which are both beneficial for immunity functioning, cardiovascular health and even skin health.
As we may be already aware of, green plant nutrients include lutein, which is good for eye-sight. Anthocyanin and resveratrol in purple fruits are known to have antioxidant effects and also good for the heart. Last but not least, white vegetables contain nutrients such as allicin and quercetin which increase immunity and control cholesterol and blood pressure.
Indeed, we can see how vegetables and fruits contain lots of helpful and healthful nutrients needed to stay healthy and even to prevent diseases. Now that we know the significance of them, let us now make our plates colorful. First, I need to do some grocery shopping tomorrow!
Comments
Post a Comment