Looking back when we were kids, we always wanted to have new box of coloring materials, the ones with a lot of colors. Same thing should be applied in our plate, it’s reasonable to say that cancer is one of the causes of health crisis nowadays but we’re not completely powerless against it as all of the plant foods have the ability to improve our health. Including the rainbow of plants in our daily diet is an easy way to guarantee that our body gets the nutritional benefits that plants provide.

Phytochemicals is a bioactive chemical present in vegetable, fruits, and other plant foods. This chemical provides necessary health benefits that reduce the risk of chronic illnesses. There are different phytochemicals and other nutrients present in every plant-foods. Particular phytochemicals, especially those in charge of the plant's color, are what give some foods some of their most effective health advantages. Through eating variety of colored plant-food every day, we can maximize the different phytochemicals present in different plant-foods.

WHAT RAINBOW CAN DO FOR YOU!

• Red – contains carotenoid called lycopene, a form of antioxidant that fights free radicals caused by aging, environmental, and behavioral factors such as pollution and smoking. Many studies have shown the benefits of lycopene in cancer prevention predominantly in lung, bone, and prostate. Goods sources of lycopene include pink guavas, tomatoes, watermelons, papayas, and red bell pepper.
• Orange and yellow – orange and yellow plant-foods are full of phytonutrients and antioxidants such as zeaxanthin, lycopene, flavonoids, beta-carotene and vitamin C. These nutrients are helpful in boosting the immune system, aiding eye health and reduce the risk of macular degeneration, and helps in bone health as it works with calcium and magnesium. Moreover, it helps with fighting the free radicals in the body, as well as reducing risks of prostate cancer. The good food sources of these nutrients are squash, cantaloupe, guava, carrots, tangerine, and sweet potatoes.
• Green – green vegetables are packed with fiber, minerals, and vitamins but low in calories which is ideal for a healthy balanced diet. Green vegetables contain bioactive nutrients such as niacin, carotenoids, flavonoids, and sulforaphane. These compounds have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties which are beneficial for decreasing the possibility of having cancer, stroke, anemia, diabetes, and hypertension. Green vegetables are also useful in enhancing the digestion and in improving the gut health which is helpful in boosting the immune system. The food sources of these compounds are horseradish leaves, pumpkin leaves, bitter gourd leaves, cabbage, bitter melon, mung, Malabar spinach, potato leaves, water spinach leaves.
• Blue/Purple – foods with blue or purple pigments contain anthocyanins which are best in repairing cellular damages. Studies showed that anthocyanin compound is beneficial for brain health, fight cancer particularly in gastrointestinal tract. In addition, anthocyanin can reverse the multidrug resistance of cancer cell which is helpful in improving the chemotherapy of a cancer patient. Good food sources of anthocyanin are grapes, red cabbage, red onion, purple cauliflower, purple eggplant, and blue ternate flower.
• White/Tan – these foods contain allicin a compound that can be a potential therapeutic option for colon cancer. Moreover, white and brown foods are high in lignans, epigallocatechin gallate, potassium, fiber, and beta – glucan; these foods are good for heart health, cancer prevention, digestion, and in boosting immunity. Food sources of these nutrients are wheat, ginger, onion, brown rice, cauliflower, radish, oats, barley, and mushroom, So far, the best food source for allicin is garlic.

Generally, to prevent having cancer it is essential to add a rainbow of plant foods in your diet as much as you can. It would be ideal and easy if there is one superfood that contains all the nutrients that we need to prevent illnesses caused by our environment and behavior. However, that is not the point the answer in having a healthy body is to eat different variety of foods daily, which is quite difficult to achieve. If you get to eat diverse plant foods in a day, that is good and you’re on a right track. Conversely, if in some days you can’t add one color, add those foods the next day.

//Rianne Mae C. Cabahug, CMU On-the-Job Trainee

References:

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