colorcode

One of the simplest messages berries give us is an example for choosing colors of plant foods when we are shopping. If berries aren't available, you can still put colorful foods in your basket and have those assorted colors as a guide for your day's meals.

That's right -- why not keep fruit and vegetable shopping and meal planning simple just by choosing 5-10 different colors for each day's meals ?

Make "5 a day" mean 5 colors a day!

From Nature's Colorful Gifts
(Published in Vista Magazine, Issue 46, May-June, p. 20, 2006)

** [NOTE: for additional background and published literature, see Wikipedia links with this color] **

When we think of the government advisory “Eat 5-10 a Day” – usually meaning 5-10 servings of fresh fruits and vegetables - we might refine this rule by purposely choosing healthy foods according to their colors.

Pigments are natural dyes that a plant uses to defend itself from perpetual sun exposure. Colors in a plant also promote regeneration by attracting predators to its scent and taste while discouraging pests such as bacteria, viruses and insects.

Sunshine provides the plant with light energy for photosynthesis – essential for plant growth, but also bathes plants in ultraviolet radiation that would be deadly without pigments absorbing those rays.

Whether in plants or human bodies, normal cellular metabolism constantly generates reactive oxygen species (sometimes called free radicals) that are unstable molecules having the potential to damage cell structures and initiate diseases - the definition of “oxidative stress.” Environmental factors such as pollution, tobacco, radiation, chemicals or excessive sunlight increase the production of free radicals or oxidative stress.

However, Nature has provided plants with pigments having a secondary function to counteract free radicals, thereby serving as antioxidant sentries always on guard to counter oxidative attack. Pigment molecules also bear other beneficial properties, such as anti-pest, anti-viral, anti-bacterial, and anti-fungal effects protecting plant health.

By eating colorful plants, we provide our bodies with these same pigments and gain similar protection against free radicals, invading pathogens and diseases. Scientists now acknowledge that more than 60 human diseases – cancer, heart and vascular disorders, diabetes, inflammation, Alzheimer's and other aging disorders, to name only a few –

Scientists have estimated that the world of colorful plants may include up to 10,000 different phytochemicals (from Greek, phyton = plant). Reasonably, 8,000 of these are antioxidants, primarily in two general classes – phenolics and carotenoids.

Among plants with antioxidant phytochemicals is one group particularly rich in phenolics or carotenoids and with great diversity of colors – Berries.

Many of these wonderful gems of summer – blueberries, cranberries, blackberries, black and red raspberries, dark grapes, all bright with blues, purples, blacks or reds – have the highest measured contents of phenolics called anthocyanins (Greek, anthos = flower and kyanos = blue). Certain Asian berry species are intensely red, orange or yellow, correspondingly with high contents of the potent antioxidant carotenoids.

The color intensities in berries are approximately proportional to overall food antioxidant strength, emphasizing the reputation berries have as Nature's #1 antioxidant food group.

There are many health benefits gained from eating colorful foods like berries. In addition to strong antioxidant pigmentation and fiber, is significant content of more familiar nutrients like carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, amino acids and proteins. Using colorful berries as an example, having more color-rich foods in our diets assures broad-spectrum nutrition and a stronger arsenal of phytochemical protection against onset of diseases.

This might be the most important single message we can convey to consumers today for optimal human nutrition: