Eat Brightly Colored Fruits and Vegetables for Amazing Health

RED: Fruits and vegetables with the color red contain a super anti-oxidant in the carotenoid pigment lycopene. Lycopene is found in tomatoes, red and pink grapefruit, guava, watermelon, papaya, red bell peppers and gogi berries.

Lycopene is absorbed most effectively when it is combined with a fat source. Eating tomato sauces or tomatoes with olive oil is good. The body absorbs the most lycopene when the tomatoes are cooked.

ORANGE: Orange containing fruits and vegetables are rich in the potent anti-oxidant beta-carotene. Beta carotene is found in sweet potatoes, yams, mangoes, carrots, and apricots.

Beta carotene helps prevent night blindness and other eye problems while working to help improve eye function.

GREEN: Dark green fruits and vegetables contain carotenoids lutein and Zeaxanthin. They are also rich in folate, magnesium, copper, B6. Many green vegetables like kale and collard greens contain powerful glucosinolates and methyl cysteine sulfoxides. These super-nutrients help to activate detoxifying enzymes in the liver that play an important role in neutralizing carcinogenic substances.

BLUE/PURPLE These fruits and vegetables are rich in flavonoids, phytochemicals, and anti-oxidants. The phytochemical pigment responsible for the dark color is called anthocyanins. Foods that are rich in anthocyanins include blueberries, plums, red cabbage, eggplant, blackberries, raspberries and cranberries.

These super nutrients have an especially powerful ability to minimize cancer-induced DNA damage, stall the growth of pre-malignant cells, accelerate cancer cell death, and reduce inflammatory mediators that initiate cancer cell growth. Berries are one of the richest sources on anthocyanins.

WHITE: The onion family which includes leeks, scallions, onions and garlic all conttain the sulfur containing compound called allicin. This is a powerful anti-microbial that destroys bacteria, viruses and fungi. Allicin is also a powerful anti-inflammatory that many doctors think helps reduce cancer, lower cholesterol and reduce inflammatory damage to the heart.

Mushrooms contain beta-glucan, selenium, vitamin B6, and zinc that are critical for healthy immune functon and the formation of the cellular anti-oxidant glutathione. Cauliflower contains the phytochemicals Indole-3-carbonyl and sulforaphanes whaich are some of nature's most powerful cancer fighters.