There’s a growing body of research that proves eating lots of colorful vegetables and foods can contribute to a lower risk of all types of cancer. By now, we’ve all heard about the importance of five-a-day (five servings of fruits and veggies). It’s a rule to live – and eat – by.
Health care professionals recommend that you fill two-thirds of your plate with color -- veggies, fish, fruit, or legumes, doesn’t matter. The more deep green or reds or orange/yellows, the better.
Why the colors?
It has been noted that certain nutrients, known as phytochemicals and antioxidants, are found in foods bright in color. This makes them easy to spot in the fresh vegetable and fruit sections of your grocery store. “Phytochemical” simply means chemicals from plants.
What is special about these chemicals is that they seem to protect living cells from potentially harmful compounds in the environment and food. Phytochemicals are also thought to prevent cell damage and mutations, which could lead to cancer.
Antioxidants can be natural or man-made chemicals that prevent or slow cell growth. “Antioxidant” describes a behavior rather than a substance. There are cells called “free radicals” which damage other cells by stealing an essential component. These free radicals then become stable but remain damaged, while that stealing action creates another free radical. And on and on. After a time, there are clumps of free radicals, which can then possibly cause a variety of illnesses and cancers.