Eating By Colour
March 14, 2018
While ‘superfoods’ is the buzzword in healthy eating these days, you might be surprised to know that almost all plant foods are super nutritious and not only nourish us, but protect us from disease too.
In addition to vitamins and minerals, plant-based foods also contain thousands of different disease-preventing nutrients. These are known as phyto-nutrients (em>hyto from the Greek word for plant). Phyto-nutrients give vegetables, fruits and legumes their colour and/or flavour and researchers have found they play an important role in protecting our health and preventing some of the leading chronic diseases in Australia, including heart disease, type 2 diabetes and hypertension. This is great news as many of these foods are readily available and cheap (when eaten in season)! While fruit and vegetables contain the majority of phytonutrients we know about so far, legumes, nuts, and whole grains also contain important
Food sources | Health benefits | |
PURPLE, BLUE, BLACK | Eggplant Beetroot Purple cabbage Red onion Black beans Blueberries Blackberries Passionfruit Plums Olives |
|
RED | Red capsicum and chillies Tomatoes Kidney beans Strawberries, raspberries Red apples Watermelon Cherries |
|
ORANGE | Carrots Pumpkin Sweet potato Orange lentils Oranges Apricots Mangoes Peaches |
|
YELLOW | Sweetcorn Yellow capsicum Yellow squash Bananas Lemons Pineapple |
|
GREEN | Beans Broccoli Cabbage Green herbs Spinach Green capsicum Green apples Avocado Green grapes Kiwifruit |
|
WHITE |
|
|
BROWN | Potato, swede Bortolotti beans, lentils Brown pear, raisin, fig, dates |
|
Tips to increase the amount of phytonutrients in your diet
- Keep cleaned and cut fruits and vegetables in the refrigerator so they are easy to grab as a quick snack
- Choose vegetables with low-fat dip for a snack.
- Add vegetables and beans or legumes to casseroles, stews and soups.
- Have fruit for dessert.
- Keep a bowl of apples, bananas and/or oranges on the table for quick grabbing
- Choose a side salad or vegetables in place of fries when eating out.
- Add veg like lettuce, onions, capsicum and/or tomatoes to sandwiches.
- Order veggie toppings on your pizza instead of extra meat or cheese
- Enjoy fruit smoothies for breakfast or snacks.