Here are some of the benefits of including many different colors on your plate. Eating a variety of colorful foods with every meal is vital for boosting maximum nutrition. The visual perception that we have developed helps us to seek out what we consider to be the more high-energy foods using a process of trichromatic vision. Eating and counting colors Color can influence our mood, motivation and productivity. It can also effect the types of foods we choose to eat too. Fruits and vegetables are shipped in chemically “modified” atmospheres, because “better stem and fruit color gives better prices,” according to the website of the delivery company TransFresh. What are the classes of food and their sources? Choosing foods from all the food groups each day and choosing a variety of foods within each food group will help you meet your nutritional requirements. Food companies scan their products on the line with custom colorimeters to ensure mathematically consistent hues.
W hen it comes to food, color is money. No color– Some vegetables have no color on their inside (eggplant). Yes, we want you to taste a rainbow - but not the kind that comes in a bright red candy bag! Similarly, not all foods in the same group contain the same nutrients. It's a simple rule to apply to your diet: the more colorful the food on your plate, the more nutrients. Blue and purple produce have many different nutrients including, lutein, zeaxanthin, resveratrol, Vitamin C, fiber, flavonoids, ellagic acid, and quercetin. Anthocyanins, a phytochemical, are pigments responsible for the blue color in vegetables and fruits, and are being studied for their role in the body’s defense of harmful carcinogens. This guide has the classes of food with examples to help you keep a balanced diet. That does not mean they are deficient in nutrients or phytochemicals. There are seven major classes of food based on their nutrient properties: Carbohydrates - These are energy-giving nutrients found in … To get the maximum disease-fighting power that phytochemicals can provide, choose foods that represent all colors of the rainbow. Oranges, for instance, do not contain much vitamin A, but cantaloupe is a good source of this vitamin. The USDA suggests paying particular attention to orange and red (5 1/2 cups per week) and dark green (1 1/2 cups per week) produce, both good sources of vitamin A and other important nutrients. In fact; many types of flavonoids are actually colorless and they still help the body counter the free radical formation.