Eat Your Vegetables!

Growing up I was always told to “eat your carrots” and “eat your peas.” Little did I know that the benefits of eating color was so nutritional and was an important component to good health.

One time, my brother ate so many carrots, his skin even turned orange. Maybe too much of something, isn’t so good after all?

Well, one thing I do know to be true, is these lovely fruit and vegetables have powerful nutritional benefits for our bodies. I remember being told as a child that carrots have beta-carotene and tomatoes have lycopene so “we should eat them”.

As I’m learning more about the food I eat, I’m also learning about how all the real food we eat and the flashy colors they exhibit have greater meaning.

What Is Ayurvedic Medicine?

For the past year now, I’ve been trying to incorporate Ayurvedic practices into my daily life. Ayurveda is an ancient form of medicine from India and is a holistic approach to health.

This practice preaches the idea that each of us have seven centers which are in alignment with our spine called chakras. The goal is to balance the seven chakras through the food we eat.

Eating food to support chakra balancing is important, but it is also important to obtain nutritious value from these crops. (Source: CBS News/Rome Neal)

Another important element is getting your nutrition from a great source of colors.  Different colors of fruit and vegetables helps your body heal and also helps you achieve better health.

Lets take a look at the benefits of eating color!

The Benefits of Eating Color

So lets talk about the different benefits of different colored vegetables.  Remember by tasting the rainbow you do your body good!

Red

Red is a source of carotenoid lycopene which protects the body against cancer and disease and rids the body of free radicals.

Yellow/Green

Yellow/Green is a source of carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin which protects the body against risk of cataracts and macular degeneration.

Orange

Orange is a great source of alpha carotene which protects the body against cancer, free radical damage and converts to Vitamin A and repairs DNA damage.

Orange/Yellow

Orange/Yellow is a source of beta cryptothanxin which protects the body against heart disease and kills cancer cells.

Red/Purple

Red/Purple is a great source of antioxidants which protects the body against heart disease and blood clots and slows aging cells and Alzheimer’s.

Green

Green is a source of sulforaphane, osocyanate, and indoles and protects the body against cancer and inhibits carcinogens.

White/Green

White/green is a source of allicin which protects the body with antitumor properties and antioxidant flavonoid.

Do Your Best To Incorporate Each Color Daily

I began incorporating colors into every meal.  I struggle with the idea of trying to eat all the different colored foods at each meal, so I just try to incorporate all the colors throughout the day. 

One of the challenges of this is finding food that is in season that also produces colorful benefits.

I’ve come to the conclusion to simply do the best that I can. Scolding myself isn’t helpful when all you can do is try. You should, too!

My question for you is, are you eating all your colors?

What color do you eat most of? What colors do you find yourself neglecting?

Balcony Garden Update

Hey guys, I am so excited to share with you all my balcony garden update!  Head on over to page 2 to see how easy it is to grow your own balcony garden!