Phytonutrients, foods with color and your good health   Frank Barnhill M.D.
 

Everyone’s grandmother knew that colorful foods, green, red, yellow, and blue were supposed to be good for you. It’s true that your grandmother probably didn’t know why these fruits and vegetables were excellent when added to your diet, but read on and you’ll be able to explain about essential vitamins and minerals to your grandkids.

Colorful fruits and vegetables are generally low in calories, high in fiber, minerals and vitamins and contain chemicals called Phytonutrients. These chemicals are so named because they are responsible for some of the color in these foods and are considered essential nutrients for your body’s well-being.

These whole foods provide a more accessible and interactive form of Phytonutrients than possible with supplements alone. So, buying powders and pills that contain these nutrients is not as good as eating the “real thing”.

The US Department of Agriculture Human Nutrition Research Center has assigned scores, called oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC), to allow you to determine the antioxidant power of certain foods. Antioxidants counteract chemicals called free radicals responsible for everything from aging to degenerative illnesses such as Alzheimer’s disease.

Let’s take a look at specific fruits and vegetables that contain Phytonutrients (high ORAC) and have beneficial effects on your health and wellbeing.

Blueberries

Beyond a doubt, blueberries have the highest concentration (ORAC) per ounce of any Phytonutrient containing fresh fruit. Blueberries, blackberries, and bilberries have high antioxidant levels, which have been shown to prevent macular degeneration and yield vision improvement.

Broccoli

Green foods contain magnesium, calcium, fiber, minerals and of course Phytonutrients that act as antioxidants. Both broccoli and cauliflower are considered green vegetables rich in sulforaphane, another antioxidant shown to protect us against cancer causing chemicals. Broccoli also contains an indole-based antioxidant, which probably helps treat breast and prostate cancer.

Spinach

This green vegetable can be cooked and still retain it’s high concentration of the Phytonutrient, Lutein, which has been shown to reduce macular degeneration. Spinach is also a good source of fiber and may absorb ultraviolet radiation decreasing solar damage to the inner eye.

Carrots

Orange and yellow vegetables contain carotenoids or powerful antioxidants that boost your immunity or resistance to disease. Carrots are one of the most studied foods on the face of the earth Studies have shown eating 5 large carrots a week can reduce your risk of a stroke by as much as 68

Percent.

Sweet potatoes

The orange potato contains the highest concentration of calcium, iron, copper, fiber, folic acid, and vitamins A and C of over 50 foods studied in the past ten years. Sweet potatoes contain Lutein and Lycopene, as well as the antioxidant carotenoids.

Tomatoes

Red foods generally contain Lycopene, certain cancer protective acids and are good sources of fiber. Lycopene has been shown to protect against prostate and breast cancer.

Strawberries

This sweet red fruit contains elegiac acid, which has been found to prevent digestive system tumors of the colon and esophagus.

Oranges

Oranges are rich in antioxidants called limonine and may protect you against skin cancers. Not only are oranges high in Vitamin C, but also are excellent sources of fiber. Eating the white part of the rind increases the amount of limonine you ingest. Kiwi fruit has one of the highest concentrations of vitamin C among all the available fruits.

Grapes

Red and dark grapes contain flavonoids, phenolic acids, and resveritrol, which may be beneficial in preventing cancer. Black and green teas have also been shown to contain carotenoids and flavonoids, which may decrease your risk of heart disease and cancer.

This is by no means a complete study of Phytonutrients and foods that contain chemicals beneficial to your diet and well-being. For a more in-depth look at colorful fruits and vegetables, please visit www.5aday.gov/.

Here’s to your healthy diet and long disease free life!

Dr. Frank

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