As a species, we have a full and robust relationship with colours. We use colour for many differing reasons, to determine our mood and personality or to manage traffic for instance. We also use colour to define ourselves by the clothes we wear and the tones we dye our hair.
But when it comes to a plant-based diet with its multitude of fruits and vegetables, colour is incredibly important. By eating in different colours we can ensure that our bodies are getting all the nourishment that we need.
A long time ago, humans needed a quick indicator that our food contains lots of vitamins. We needed these signals in order to survive! These psychological cues remain in us these days too.
Meat, dairy and junk food industries want to convince us that white processed bread, sweets and ultra-refined products are an easy and delicious way to feed ourselves. Rebel against this. Our brain might get hooked on sugar, fat and highly flavoured foods, but they are not good for us. Healthy nutrition is required for our immunity. We need whole-foods in order to nourish our bodies.
So here is a quick rainbow guide to help you make sense of the individual benefits that fruit and vegetables provide, colour by colour, plant by plant!
Red
What to eat: tomatoes, radishes, bell peppers, watermelon, beetroot, raspberries
The phytonutrients that give red vegetables their colour also come with powerful health benefits. Deeper colours can usually mean that the vegetable is richer in these phytonutrients including antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals. These nutrients have been shown to help prevent breast and prostate cancers, fight chronic illnesses, and strengthen the immune system.
Most of the nutrition boosters in red vegetables come from lycopene and anthocyanin. Lycopene is an antioxidant that has been shown to reduce heart disease risk, protect the eyes, fight infections, and protect against damage from tobacco smoke. Whilst anthocyanins are believed to protect the liver, improve eyesight, and reduce blood pressure and inflammation.
Orange
What to eat: carrots, butternut squash, pumpkin, mangos
Beta-carotene converts to vitamin A in the body, which we need for skin and eye cell growth. It’s also crucial for building a healthy immune and reproductive system. A US study found that three daily servings of orange fruits and vegetables can visibly improve your skin’s appearance.
Taking advantage of the high level of beta-carotene means these antioxidants can also help to fight oxygen-related damage in the body. It has been proven that the higher levels of this compound may lower the risk of death from cardiovascular diseases.
Yet it is not just beta-carotene that orange vegetables contain, they are packed full of vitamin B6. Due to its role in blood cell growth and protein metabolism, vitamin B6 helps the immune system produce antibodies to fight disease.
Yellow
What to eat: bell peppers, sweetcorn, oranges, lemons, peaches
Yellow fruits and vegetables have a phytochemical called bioflavonoid, which can sometimes be referred to as vitamin P. This element helps to break down vitamin C in the body and then provide the vitamin C throughout the body, the skin, in particular, needs to replenish itself. They also contain carotenoids, which is a fat-soluble pigment that also gives the fruits and vegetables their yellow colour.
Carotenoids also act as antioxidants in the human body. Some carotenoids are converted by the body into vitamin A, which is essential for our vision and healthy growth and normal internal development. Carotenoids also have anti-inflammatory and immune system benefits and are sometimes associated with the prevention of cardiovascular diseases including strokes and heart disease.
Green
What to eat: broccoli, spinach, cabbage, cucumber, romaine lettuce, green peas, avocados, green apples
We are all in love with green leafy vegetables right now. That is because dark green plants are some of the most powerful and advantageous fruits and vegetables for the body. Studies have shown that increasing your intake of green leafy vegetables may help prevent cardiovascular disease, diabetes and slow the rate of brain decline as we age. The calcium will help to protect the bones against conditions like osteoporosis and arthritis.
Dark green vegetables deliver an incredible array of vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients. Whilst dark green leafy vegetables are among the most nutritious, almost any vegetable that is dark green in colour will add the value you need to your diet. They contain many nutrients like vitamins A,C, E and K, many of the B vitamins, antioxidants, fiber, folate, magnesium, calcium, iron and potassium.
Greens are also an excellent source of folate, which helps your body produce mood-regulating neurotransmitters such as dopamine and serotonin that will help to regulate stress levels naturally. The magnesium found in green leafy vegetables can help support optimal vascular health.
Raw, leafy greens are one of the best foods you can eat to support your body’s natural ability to produce digestive enzymes. Digestive enzymes are critical for breaking down and absorbing the nutrients from our food, so if you do not have enough of these enzymes you are likely to experience all sorts of stomach issues including bloating, constipation and nutrient deficiencies.
Blue
What to eat: blueberries, purple grapes, plums and beetroot
Whilst a bright blue sky can really brighten up your day, blue fruits and vegetables are low in calories, full of fibre, and packed with anthocyanins. They will help protect your body against free radicals and are also rich with micronutrients like manganese and vitamins C and K. Whilst we are all aware of the benefits of vitamin C, vitamin K has been linked to better bone health and improvements in blood clotting capabilities.
The blue ingredients are also well known to contain many antioxidants and immunity-boosting properties. So drinking the juice from these fruits particularly can lead to better brain health, including improvements in memory, cognition, and overall mood. Many of the blue ingredients that you can enjoy are mainly fruits, so possibly the best way to get the most from these is through delicious smoothies.
Purple
What to eat: aubergines or eggplants, grapes, berries, plums, dates
Our purple fruit and vegetable staples are loaded with anthocyanins. These antioxidants have been proven to reduce inflammation which is one of the underlying causes of many diseases. This includes Alzheimer’s disease, asthma, heart disease, allergies, type 2 diabetes, arthritis and joint disease, depression, some types of cancer and general obesity.
On top of the diseases that these purple superfoods can help to fight, they are also full of resveratrol which is a natural polyphenol which has many rejuvenation qualities which help with liver and kidney cleansing, skincare and overall gut health. They also help to reduce estrogen within the body, which can have either a good or bad effect on women, in particular, depending on age.
Anthocyanins might be good for us, but they are also good for the fruits and vegetables themselves as well as the environment. This pigment helps to protect vegetables from the damage caused by sunlight and cold temperatures. They also attract pollinators, like bees and butterflies!
Whilst white and brown are not the colours of the rainbow, they are equally important!
White
What to eat: cauliflower, mushrooms, garlic, onions, chives, ginger, pears
For a very long time, the advice from dieticians was to avoid white vegetables whenever possible. The main reason for this is because they wanted people to focus on the other colours of fruits and vegetables as they knew they had better qualities for health at the time. We now know that this is untrue and was a huge mistake!
White fruits and vegetables contain large amounts of allyl sulphides. This is a nutrient that is known to lower the level of bad cholesterol in your body and can help to cleanse the body naturally. They will also help to lower blood pressure and also have a large effect on boosting the immune system.
Nutrients found in white fruits and vegetables minimize the risk of colon, prostate and breast cancer. This is because the allyl sulphides destroy the cancerous cells in the body and through their cleansing capabilities. They also reduce cell division which means that the body can transport the nutrients throughout the blood-stream fully and effectively.
Brown
What to eat: whole grains, legumes, raisins
Did you know that legumes are a type of vegetable? Now consider dry foodstuffs like beans and peas and the fact that there are around 16,000 types grown all over the world in different sizes, shapes, colours, and textures.
Legumes are loaded with health benefits. They are very low in fat, contain no cholesterol and have the same amount of calcium as a glass of milk. They also contain an essential amino acid called lysine which is a natural internal medicine for the body and immune system. The polyphenols that are also present in legumes are resistant to starch and high in fibre that will help to naturally regulate the body’s blood sugar levels.
As well as legumes, we also have grains to consider. Having whole grains as part of a healthy diet will help to reduce the risk of some chronic diseases as grains are important sources of many nutrients. These include fibre, the B vitamins thiamin, riboflavin, niacin and folate and the minerals iron, magnesium and selenium. As these are some of the main nutrients present in meat, it really is imperative that grains are part of a plant-based diet as the closest natural plant-based alternative.
How do we get all these colours into our diet?
For people that are enjoying a plant-based lifestyle there are really two different ways of achieving the levels of nutrients required to live without meat.
You can either eat a lot of junk food and then head to the pharmacy and stock up on lots and lots of vitamins. This way you can get everything, however, it can be expensive and very time-consuming reading through all the labels to make sure that everything that you are buying will artificially fulfill the needs of your body. It is not yet certain that processed and industrially made vitamins are beneficial for you, so we don’t recommend this option.
What’s much better, you can learn how to eat correctly. It is actually much easier than you would initially think. The fruit and vegetable isles in the supermarkets and local grocery shops usually have a full and colourful array to choose from.
For many years we have developed aversions to certain fruits and vegetables due to the gruel-like substances we may have been forced to eat as children. Nowadays we have so many modern techniques on how to cook these vegetables that we all can move on and enjoy, dare we say, brussels sprouts or broccoli! So to get into the correct headspace of correct eating means getting over our old dislikes of certain fruits and vegetables and looking at your supermarket’s selection with an open mind.
After this, it is simply spending a little time researching recipes. These recipes do not have to be intricate or require advanced cooking skills. In almost every instance the simplest is normally the best. After all, you are working with very simple ingredients.
If you are looking for some ideas of what to search for, then take our buddha bowls ideas as an example. Within 15 minutes you can have a full colourful array of fruit and vegetables in a delicious meal that is hearty, packed with all the nutrients from all of the colours we have mentioned above.
When you are looking for dinner ideas, think of some of your favourite dishes from when you have dined out. Then try to replicate some of the dishes you’ve seen watching cooking shows. They do not have to be accurate and entirely precise, but it will be colourful and it will be fun. Ask us, we are happy to help too!
