Colours: get a diverse range into your food
Vegetables are not just food. Used well they help you heal and prevent diseases.
Each hue we see on our plate is a signal from nature about nutrients hidden within.
The colours are not random. They represent distinct classes of compounds that support human health.
It is Durga Puja in Kolkata. The city will be a sea of red. Tomatoes, red peppers, and beets glow with lycopene and betalains. These polyphenols act as powerful antioxidants, protecting the heart and lowering inflammation.
Studies show lycopene can reduce the risk of prostate cancer. It improves hearth health. When I eat a tomato, I remind myself that it is not just flavor but a protective shield for my arteries.
Green vegetables like spinach, kale, and broccoli carry chlorophyll. They have flavonoids such as quercetin.
Quercetin detoxifies the liver, help balance hormones, and even support DNA repair.
Their bitter edge is not a flaw but a signal of their protective chemistry.
In fact, the bitterness is a way of ensuring we do not over consume. Moderation by design.
Carrots, pumpkins, and bell peppers are rich in carotenoids like beta-carotene and lutein. The orange hue convert into vitamin A, vital for vision, skin repair, and immune strength.
Lutein, concentrated in the retina, filters harmful blue light. So if your family spends all day watching a screen, ensure you get lutein.
Purple and blue foods. Eggplant, red cabbage, or blueberries. They contain anthocyanins.
These polyphenols improve memory, protect the brain, and enhance vascular flexibility. Geographies that consume purple food show slower cognitive decline as they age.
Even white vegetables, often ignored, carry allicin. Garlic and onion for example. This sulfur compound lowers cholesterol, supports immunity, and has anti-cancer properties.
White, it turns out, is not the absence of health but a silent protector.
When you put many colors on your plate, you are practicing preventive medicine.
Balance, variety, and harmony in colour mirror the balance we seek in health.
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