Day Seventeen :Color Code Your Diet for Health: Riddle: What’s green and yellow and orange-red all over? Give up? The answer should be on your plate: fruits and vegetables. Mom was right, and so was popeye. It’s not simply a matter of vitamins, minerals and fiber—as if those weren’t good enough reasons to eat this delicious, low-calorie fare provided fresh by Mother Nature.
Mounting scientific evidence suggests that eating fruits and vegetables has regenerative benefits. Eminenet authorities, from the National Academy of Sciences to the American Cancer Society, say orchard and garden have specific substances that may prevent disease. There is even evidence that these foods may reduce the risk wrought by years of bad habits, such as reducing the risk of lung cancer for smokers.
Check your food diary.Did you eat at least one serving of fresh fruits or vegetables at every meal? If not, it’s time to start. If you candecorate your plate as each meal with shades of green red,orange and yellow you”ll have a beautiful way of eating that will help put you in the pink!
Green for leafy vegetables like Popeye’s favorite, spinach,along with kale, parsley, beet greens, lettuce, chard and others. You’ve already seen the greens lauded as prime sources of calcium and fiber.
But perhaps most important, these green leavaes—along with broccoli and reddish fruits and vegetables—are highin vitamin A and beta-carotene, a specific form of vitamin A which scientific studies strongly indicate has a protective effect against a number of different cancers. In one study, the more carotene-rich vegetables people ate, the less risk they had of developing cancer.
And there’s more. The greens are good sources of vitamin C. Studies indicate that people whose diets are rich in vitamin C are less likely to get cancer, particularly of the stomach and esophagus. It may also keep the immune system healthy, enhance absorption of iron for strong blood and help control cholesterol level.s.
Another cancer-fighting substance in greens is chlorophyll, the green substance that runs sunlight into plant food. Scientists have found that chlorophyll has certain healing
Qualities, possibly including the ability to reduce the damage carcinogens wreak on cells. The Greens are fair sources of B vitamins, potassium magnesium and iron.
Green. This color identifies cabbage and its kin, Brussels sprouts, broccoli and their pale cousin cauliflower. This “cruciferous” family may have special cancer-fighting properties, in addition to fiber and vitamins A and C. People who consume these vegetables may have a lower risk of developing cancer; and tests in laboratory animals reveal that the cruciferous vegetables may prevent chemically-induced cancer.
Red and Orange. These are the”Piligrim”vegetables, like pump-kins, sweet potates squash, red peppers and carrots. They’re rich in bet-carotene, the nutrient linked to cancer prevention. They also provide plenty of fiber and other nutrients.
Red and orange are also for fruits like peaches, cherries, apricots,cantaloupes,mangoes and papaya, which are rich in beta-carotene, fiber and vitamins. These fruits also contain potassium.
Orange and Yellow. These colors mark citrus fruits. A group of Florida researchers note that in Florida colon cancer rates are lower than in the northern states. Many of the people who live in Florida have backyard citrus trees, and scientists say that the easy availability of the fruit may be the prime protective factor. They speculate that vitamins A,C and E, as well as the fiber pectin, may have a synergistic effect that helps prevent cancer.
What’s more, citrus fruitsoffer generous amounts of vitamin C and also provide some B vitamins,potassium and bioflavonds, nutritents that strengthen capillary walls. It’s not really difficult to add these color-coded foods to each and every meal. Breakfast is easy:a
Half-grapefruit,some orange juice—or if you’re late, an apple to munch on the way to work. These days, lunch is easy too. Most restaurants, and even some fast-food outlets, present beautiful salad bars.
Dinner can fill out the day if you have soup that contains vegetables, a salad and two vegetables with your entrée. Still hungry? Have a piece of fruit.!

Thanks for patience reading.
MR