Remember when your grandparents or parents would tell you that to be healthy you should eat vegetables and fruits with all the colours of the rainbow? Well, it’s not just about eating foods for their pretty colours, there is actually a scientific reason why a rainbow diet can help with your health. It’s all about Phytonutrients.
So, what are Phytonutrients? Phyto is a prefix which comes from “phyton” which is the Greek word for plants. So, in simple terms phytonutrients refers to nutrients which are derived from plants. Thousands of naturally occurring phytonutrient compounds give plant foods their rich colours, flavours and aromas. These phytonutrients also help to protect plants from attack by insects, diseases, and environmental factors such as sun damage. Something amazing happens when we eat plant foods! Because plant phytonutrients have anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and immune boosting benefits on the human body, they can help keep us healthy and protect us from the risk of chronic diseases.
Like our Grainfields Australia rainbow logo, AGM Foods uses a rainbow of plant-based superfoods as ingredients in our fermented food formulations. From grains, seeds and legumes to sweet potato, fruits- lemon juice, pomegranate juice, herbs- turmeric, ginger, dong quai, green cereal grasses – alfalfa, barley, wheat and oat to micro algae such as spirulina, chlorella, kelp and dunaliella salina. We source organically grown supplies whenever possible. Our unique FloraFerm fermentation process enhances the health promoting properties of these foods as they are pre-digested by naturally occurring beneficial bacteria for easier absorption.
The rainbow diet is all about incorporating a wide variety of colourful fruits and vegetables into our meals. Each colour group represents different nutrients and antioxidants. Antioxidants are important substances may help reduce our risk of disease by attacking the free radicals (unstable molecules) which build up and cause damage to our cell walls. Below are some examples of colourful plant foods which are beneficial to our health.
Red and pink: Strawberries, cranberries, raspberries, pomegranate, tomatoes, cherries, apples, beets, watermelon, red grapes, red peppers, red onions. These foods are rich in cartenoids. Cartenoids have antioxidant properties which may help protect against inflammation and diseases such as cancer, diabetes, arthritis, heart and lung disease.
Yellow and orange: Carrots, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, yellow peppers, tangerines, mango, apricots, peaches, rockmelon, corn and citrus fruits. These foods also contain carotenoids, including curcuminoids, plus alpha and beta-carotene which are slightly different to the ones in the red colour group. Alpha and Beta- carotene are converted to vitamin A in the body which can help with eye health, immune support and heart health. Other phytonutrients including lutein and zeaxanthin are found in pears, bananas, lemons and pineapple which have also been shown to be important for eye health by helping to reduce the risk of age-related macular degeneration.
Green: Spinach, avocados, asparagus, artichokes, broccoli, alfalfa sprouts, kale, cabbage, brussels sprouts, kiwi fruit, apples, pears, green tea and green leafy herbs and vegetables. These foods contain antioxidant phytonutrients including chlorophyll, catechins, phytosterols, nitrates and an important nutrient known as folate (or vitamin B9). Folate is important during pregnancy as it helps reduce the risk of birth defects such as spina bifida in babies. This group also provides important benefits for the vascular system by improving blood circulation reducing the risk of high blood pressure and heart disease.
Blue and purple: Blackberries, blueberries, figs, purple cabbage, egg plant, prunes and purple grapes. The phytonutrients in these foods include anthocyanins and resveratrol. These phytonutrients have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties which may help with brain health and protect against high cholesterol, heart disease and diabetes.
Brown and white: garlic, potatoes, bananas, onions, cauliflower, garlic, leeks, parsnips, daikon radish, mushrooms. Foods in this group also contain powerful antioxidant flavonoids. The onion family contains allicin, which has anti-bacterial and anti-viral properties. Studies have also found that allicin may help with normalising blood pressure by dilating blood vessels.
Its simple really, by eating the rainbow of foods provided by nature, we can all reap the benefits of phytonutrients!
Sources: Phytonutrients: Paint Your Plate With The Colours Of The Rainbow, By Katherine D. McManus, MS. RD, LDN Harvard Health Publishing. Phytonutrients: What Are The And Where To Find Them, health.clevelandclinc.org/ phytonutrients. Belsten, Jo. “The Rainbow Diet.” The Horticulturist, vol. 10, no. 1, 2001, pp. 2–4. “Eat A Rainbow of Fruit & Veggies”- Victor Chang Cardiac Institute
