Red fruits and vegetables have emerged as a new power-house of nutrition to improve your diet and your wellness. According to Lona Sandon, an assistant professor of nutrition, ‘There are many red fruits and vegetables to choose from and they each bring something a little bit different to the table.’
Studies have shown that many red fruits and vegetables soak up damaging free radicals, and have other wellbeing benefits such as maintaining a heart health, eyesight and a balanced lifestyle, including exercise, because they are full of powerful, healthy antioxidants, such as lycopene and anthocyanins. However, there are more studies to be done in this area.
So what foods should make you see red? Firstly, strawberries are ‘a good source of the antioxidant powerhouse vitamin C’ says Sandon, as well as containing folic acid which is known to decrease the risk of certain birth defects called neural tube defects. According to Felicia Busch, a nutritionist in the US and author of The New Nutrition from Antioxidants to Zucchini, cherries ‘are high in fibre because of their skin’ and ‘They are also rich in vitamin C as well as potassium’. You can add both to your diet by throwing them on your cereal, or blending some frozen strawberries in a skimmed milk and frozen yoghurt smoothie. Raspberries are also easily added this way, and Sandon argues they are ‘high in fibre, which we know helps lower levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) or ‘bad’ cholesterol’.
Sandon also advocates tomatoes as ‘a good source of lycopene, which is strongly connected with prostate cancer protection’. According to Cancer Research UK, cooked and processed tomatoes are a better source of lycopene than fresh tomatoes, as the bioavailability of lycopene increases when you cook it. Busch recommends red pepper, as it is ‘a phenomenal source of vitamin A, which helps with skin, bones, and teeth. And most people don’t realise that they have as much vitamin C as an orange’, whereas Miriam Pappo, a director of clinical nutrition says beetroots are ‘Rich in folate, lycopene, and anthocyanins’.
Pink fruits also count among their red cousins, as Sandon says ‘watermelon is a great source of lycopene’ whilst Busch recommends grapefruits for their ‘good source of pectin, which helps lower cholesterol’. Busch advises that ‘You want to go for colour when you choose grapefruit, because pink grapefruit has higher levels of antioxidants, such as vitamin C’. However, Pappo says this is true for every food and ‘The deeper, the darker, and the richer the colour, the better’. Pappo says that, although red foods are a great place to start, she recommends ‘choosing foods for every colour in the rainbow’.
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