Authors from the AUC School of Medicine: Students Chancee’ Forestier and Bamba, and Professor Dr. David Rodda.
Hey friends! It’s Bamba here! Sometimes our stomachs grumble and demand food. When we are lucky, our bellies may be so full that they stick out! Somedays, it seems that we can’t get food out of our minds. Did you know that food will use colour to talk to us?
Yes! The colour of food is just like a frown, smile, or excited face. We may frown when sad or smile real big when we are happy. Any food we eat will use colour to tell us what it does for our bodies! The many colours of our food do different things to protect our bodies and make us strong.
To get a good mix of protection and a strong body, your plate should look like a colourful rainbow. Instead of just thinking of food as eating vitamins, get out there and explore a rainbow of fruits and vegetables! Let’s use the rainbow to figure out what different foods can give us!
Strawberries, watermelon, and beets are examples of red fruits and vegetables that contain lycopene. Lycopene will help protect our bodies from getting old too fast and stop some cancers before they start. Overall, red foods tend to help our hearts!
Fruits and vegetables such as carrots, mango, and sweet potatoes, which have largely orange colours, are good sources of beta-carotene, a type of vitamin A. This particular vitamin is very important for eye health. A specific quality of Vitamin A is helping you see in the dark! Therefore, every time you are eating healthy orange-coloured food, you are helping your eye stay healthy!
Bananas, peaches, and lemons are examples of yellow food choices. Yellow fruits and vegetables often are good sources of Vitamin C. However, many of the orange and yellow foods help provide both vitamin A and C. Therefore, when you reach out for an orange-yellow fruit, you are usually helping multiple body systems! Talk about multi-tasking!
Spinach, avocado, broccoli, and leafy greens are healthy green options that are packed with strengthening ingredients. However, these are only two of the many benefits of green food! Some of these include folic acid and vitamin K. While folic acid helps our bodies make new cells, vitamin K is important for the health of our blood. Overall, green foods help our bodies by allowing our blood to clot when we bleed or make new cells when we need them.
Blue and purple options such as eggplant, prunes, and blueberries have antioxidants. These antioxidants help our bodies get rid of unwanted inflammation and chemicals. By doing so, it keeps cells from pre-mature aging as well as preventing different types of cancer.
You can make sure you are getting a good mix of all these important aspects of food by making sure you eat lots of different fruits and vegetables. This is why your family and friends tell you that it is important to eat these yummy fruits and vegetables.
Now I want to know some things about you! What is your favorite colour? What are some foods that are your favorite colour? How do they help your body?
Until next time friends! Bamba – out!
