Color By Numbers
Free Yourself of Free Radicals Easily with Colorful Fruits & Vegetables
Do you remember the color by number kits from your childhood? You know, the little craft kit that includes a pre-drawn picture divided into smaller shapes, with each shape assigned a number. Then, every number corresponds with a certain color, and you follow the guide until, voila!, your painting is revealed. It was so simple to follow and you felt like a master artist when you were done.
Now, I’ve developed a similar system to help you maintain one of the most precious masterpieces in the world – YOU! Yes, you are a one-of-a-kind, priceless masterpiece… from your outward appearance to your internal systems to your mental state and so much more.
By adding a colorful palate of fruits and vegetables to your diet, your body’s defenses will be armed with the vitamins, minerals, and fiber needed to boost the immune system and antioxidants to fight free radicals. In doing so, you will look and feel your best at every age.
What are Free Radicals?
Free radicals, also referred to as “free-radical scavengers,” are molecules produced when your body breaks down food. They occur more aggressively when you're exposed to unhealthy factors like drinking alcoholic beverages, smoking tobacco, or coming into contact with radiation.
Scientifically speaking, free radicals are oxygen-containing molecules with an uneven number of electrons linked to aging and a host of diseases. The uneven number allows them to easily react with other molecules. Because of this, free radicals can cause large chain chemical reactions in your body called oxidation.
What is Oxidation?
Oxidation is a normal and necessary process that takes place in your body. However, the more it occurs the more tissues it damages. An example of this can be seen in a fruit that has gained tremendous popularity over the last few years, the avocado.
If you’ve ever cut an avocado in half or made a delicious bowl of guacamole, you probably noticed it turns brown shortly after being exposed to oxygen in the air. That’s what oxidization looks like.
Now, if you squeeze lemon juice onto the avocado or guacamole, it prevents oxidation and allows the fruit to keep its beautiful green color. Why? Because citrus is full of antioxidants. The oxygen reacts with the antioxidants before the avocado itself, behaving like a natural preservative.
As with the example, other colorful fruits and vegetables rich in antioxidants can protect you from the negative effects brought on by free radicals.
What are Antioxidants?
Antioxidants are substances that can prevent or slow damage to cells caused by free radicals. Plant-based foods are rich in natural antioxidants in their purest form. Each color coincides with specific immunity-boosting, oxidation fighting benefits.
What Happens When Free Radicals Take Over?
When free radicals outnumber the antioxidants meant to keep them balanced, they begin damaging fatty tissue, DNA, and proteins in your body. Because a large part of your body is comprised of these elements, the significant damage done can lead to devastating diseases, including:
Diabetes
Atherosclerosis, or the hardening of the blood vessels
Inflammatory conditions
High blood pressure, also known as hypertension
Heart disease
Neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s
Cancer
Color by Numbers Health Hacks
To prevent oxidation from adversely affecting you and your health (e.g., stop what happens to an untreated avocado from happening to you), add the colorful foods listed below to your diet. For an easy reference, I have listed the colors, their specific antioxidants, the diseases they help fight, and the fruits and vegetables where they can be found as follows:
1. Red Fruits & Vegetables: A plant nutrient with powerful antioxidant properties called lycopene gives fruits like tomatoes their gorgeous red hue.
Studies suggest that people who eat a lot of tomato products have a lower risk of cancers including lungs, prostate, and stomach. Lycopene may also help protect against cancers of the cervix, breast, pancreas, colon, and esophagus.
Fruits: Red apples, blood oranges, cherries, cranberries, red grapes, pink/red grapefruit, red pears, pomegranates, raspberries, strawberries, and watermelon
Vegetables: Beets, red peppers, radishes, radicchio, red onions, red potatoes, rhubarb, and
tomatoes
2. Purple & Blue Fruits & Vegetables: Purple and blue fruits and vegetables get their water-soluble pigments from anthocyanins (part of the phenolic group). Studies in animals and humans suggest that anthocyanins play an important role in helping reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, cognitive decline/dementia, and cancer.
Fruits: Blackberries, blueberries, cherries, cranberries, eggplant, grape juice, plums, prunes, raisins, red apples, red or purple grapes, red pears, red wines, and strawberries
Vegetables: Red beans, red beets, red cabbage, and red onions
3. Yellow & Green Fruits & Vegetables: If you’re seeking remedies to protect your eye health, yellow and green veggies are your “go-to” power foods. Containing the one-two punch of lutein and zeaxanthin, these nutrients are known for preventing diseases that lead to vision loss in older adults. This includes age-related macular degeneration (AMD), and cataracts.
Fruits: Avocados, green apples, green grapes, honeydew, kiwifruit, and limes
Vegetables: Artichokes, arugula, asparagus, broccoflower, broccoli, broccoli rabe, brussels sprouts, Chinese cabbage, green beans, green cabbage, celery, chayote squash, cucumbers, endive, leafy greens, leeks, lettuce, green onions, okra, peas, green peppers, snow peas, spinach, sugar snap peas,
watercress, and zucchini
4. Yellow & Orange Fruits & Vegetables: In addition to being rich in antioxidants, yellow and orange foods are a great dietary source of provitamin A. Because of this, these fruits and vegetables have many health benefits including improved cognitive function, and good skin, lung, and eye health. There is also evidence that these yellow and orange foods reduce the risk of premenopausal breast cancer, lung cancer, and pancreatic cancer.
Fruits: Apricots, papaya, carrots, mangos, cantaloupe, oranges, grapefruit, lemons, pomelos, bananas, and nectarines.
Vegetables: Corn, orange and yellow peppers, yellow beets, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, carrots, and winter, butternut, acorn, and summer squash
5. Green Fruits & Vegetables: Chlorophyll is present in most green vegetables. Its potential benefits include increased energy, improving hormonal balance, arthritis and fibromyalgia relief, and weight loss.
Fruits: Avocados, green apples, green grapes, honeydew, kiwifruit, and limes
Vegetables: Artichokes, arugula, asparagus, broccoli, broccoli rabe, brussels sprouts, Chinese cabbage, green beans, green cabbage, celery, chayote squash, cucumbers, endive, leafy greens, leeks, lettuce, green onions, okra, peas, green peppers, snow peas, spinach, sugar snap peas,
watercress, and zucchini
6. White/Colorless Fruits & Vegetables:
What these foods might be lacking in color they make up for in antioxidant power. The powerful antioxidant known as flavonoid helps the body counteract some of the most dangerous free-radical formations, and has proven antibacterial and antiviral effects.
Lab studies have shown that certain flavonoids stop the reproduction of H1N1 flu, HIV, SARS, and RSV viruses. They have also sewn their reputation in exerting various protective effects against chronic diseases like cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular disorders, as well as neurodegenerative conditions. So pile them on!
Fruits: Bananas, white nectarines, white peaches, and pears
Vegetables: Cauliflower, garlic, ginger, jicama, mushrooms, onions, parsnips, potatoes, and turnips
You don't have to keep a chart list of all the types of antioxidants in fruits, just trust their colors. For starters, try to incorporate a different color of fresh fruits and veggies into your meals. While out at the grocery store, I recommend you use this easy-to-follow color coordinated system as a reminder of the benefits those vibrant colors offer to your health.
