Last week I wrote about the Mediterranean diet. A major component of this diet is eating many
fruits and vegetables. A very easy way
to ensure you are getting enough fruits and vegetables is to focus on eating at
least 5 A DAY. Not only are fruits and vegetables loaded
with vitamins, minerals and fiber they are also loaded with
PHYTOCHEMICALS. “Phyto” is from the
Greek and means “plant”. Phytochemicals
are only in plant foods, are not nutrients but are ever so important to your
health. Different fruits and vegetables
have different phytochemicals so varying the kind of fruits and vegetable and
varying the color is important.
Blue/Purple -
helps fight aging, improves your memory and reduces cancer risk. Choose plums, eggplant, raisins,
blueberries, black olives, blackberries, purple grapes
Red – great for
your heart, tomatoes and other red vegetables and fruits have lycopene – a phytochemical
that is an antioxidant. Helps lower your
bad cholesterol, lowers your blood pressure and helps reduce your cancer
risk. Choose cherries, cranberries, red
grapes, watermelon, tomatoes, strawberries and raspberries. You can also get lycopene from spaghetti sauce,
tomato sauce, tomato catsup, tomato soup, salsa, cocktail sauce and tomato juice.
Orange/Yellow –
great for vision. Have trouble seeing in
the dark, driving at night? Eat some
carrots. These phytochemicals also help
your immune system and reduce cancer risk.
Choose cantaloupe, mango, papaya, sweet potatoes, carrots, pumpkin,
oranges, pineapple, apricots, tangerines, yellow corn, acorn squash.
Green – Also good
for your vision and also reduces cancer risk.
The darker the green the better.
Say good-bye to iceberg lettuce and choose spinach, collards, kale, dark
leafy greens, broccoli, limes, asparagus, green beans, green pepper, avocados,
green grapes, kiwi, cucumbers, honeydew
and snow peas.
Having a salad made with a mix of greens? Add some sliced carrot chips, some diced
green pepper, some tomato slices, some radishes, some black olives, and even
some dried cranberries. It is easy to
add phytochemicals to your meals.
Sources: How
Lycopene Helps Protect Against Cancer, How
to Eat Right with Color, Image source: Fruits
and Vegetables
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