Colour your platter

Isn’t it a pleasure to see a vibrant assortment of colours on your plate!? Colour not only makes food visually appealing, but naturally occurring chemical compounds, scientifically called Phytochemicals, that give a fruit or vegetable it’s natural colour, play an essential role in preventive and therapeutic nutrition. Adding five - six servings of fruit and vegetable in one’s daily diet helps prevent cardiovascular diseases, helps in improving gut health, helps in a better vision, a healthy skin and so on..... A colourful plate is appealing to kids too and can make meal time less tiring for the mothers of young ones!!

Here are the different fruits and vegetables with vivid colours, which impart many health benefits on consumption. Red Fruits and Vegetables contain Lycopene, Ellagic Acid, Quercetin, to name a few. These nutrients reduce the risk of prostate cancer, lower blood pressure, reduce tumor growth and LDL cholesterol levels, scavenge harmful free-radicals, and support joint tissue in arthritis cases. It has been proven in many clinical studies that these nutrients act as an antioxidant and anticarcinogens in the gastrointestinal tract.

Types of red fruits and vegetables
Beets, cherries, cranberries, guava, papaya, pink grapefruit, pink/red grapefruit, pomegranates, radishes, raspberries, red apples, red bell peppers, red chili peppers, red grapes, red onions, red pears, red peppers, strawberries, tomatoes, and watermelon.

Orange and yellow fruit and vegetables
Beta-carotene, zeaxanthin, flavonoids, lycopene, potassium, and vitamin C. These nutrients reduce age-related macula degeneration and the risk of prostate cancer, lower LDL cholesterol and blood pressure, promote collagen formation and healthy joints, fight harmful free radicals, encourage alkaline balance, and work with magnesium and calcium to build healthy bones.

Yellow and orange fruits and vegetables
Apricots, muskmelons, carrots, lemon, mangoes, oranges, papayas, peaches, pineapples, pumpkin, sweet corn, sweet potatoes etc. these fruits and vegetables helps for a healthy skin too!

Green vegetables and fruit
Chlorophyll, fiber, lutein, zeaxanthin, calcium, folate, vitamin C, Vitamin B, calcium, and Beta-carotene. The nutrients found in these vegetables reduce cancer risks, lower blood pressure and LDL cholesterol levels, normalise digestion time, support retinal health and vision, fight harmful free-radicals, and boost immune system activity.

Types of green fruits and vegetables
Spinach, fenugreek leaves, raddish leaves, butterfruit, broccoli, coriander leaves, cucumbers, green apples, peas, ladies finger etc. These green foods contain Vitamin B complex and iron as well.

White fruits and vegetables
Beta-glucans, lignans etc that provide powerful immune boosting activity. These nutrients also activate natural killer B and T cells, reduce the risk of colon, breast, and prostate cancers, and balance hormone levels, reducing the risk of hormone-related cancers.

Types of white fruits and vegetables
Bananas, cauliflower, garlic, ginger, mushrooms, onions, potatoes, shallots and turnips. Try to incorporate all kinds of fruits and vegetable with meals and as in between snacks. This way you can make sure that you are getting the goodness of all the nutrients possible. There need not be any more reason to colour your way for a healthy living!!

- The writer is a Chief Dietitian, Fortis Hospital.

By Shalini Arvind