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To please yourself with a good dish, you need a little time and an original creative idea. The summer table will be decorated with a “chromo-diet”: the bright colors of vegetables and fruits are not only a feast for the eyes, but also the key to health.
Vegetables and fruits are the basis of summer cuisine. They are known to supply us with fiber, vitamins and trace elements. But, according to scientists, this is only the tip of a huge iceberg of knowledge about the beneficial properties of plants that we have yet to comprehend. It turns out that plant pigments – the substances responsible for a particular color – are perhaps the most useful component of a plant-based diet. Thus, the best we can choose by eye!
Color code
With the help of bright color, the plant conveys a certain message to other members of the living community. For example, “fly to me, I have delicious nectar” or “do not eat me, I am poisonous.” The bright colors of fruits and vegetables also indicate very specific properties. American explorer James A. Joseph* I am sure that each of us can create an optimal diet for ourselves, guided by the color of its plant components. Specializing in gerontology and nutrition, he studied the properties of plant pigments for many years and found that each of them helps to solve certain health problems. In accordance with this theory, he proposes a “color code”: red helps fight arthritis, orange strengthens the heart, green helps maintain vision, and blue improves brain function.
Our consultants
James Joseph – ведущий специалист Laboratory of neuroscience of the USDA human nutrition research center on aging, tufts university.
How to choose the best
Advised by nutritionist Marina Popovich*
“The best for our table are those fruits for which the harvest season has come. First of all, because absolutely all early vegetables, fruits or berries are grown using nitrates. During storage, especially in conditions of high humidity – in polyethylene, in unventilated rooms – nitrates turn into nitrites, which are more toxic than nitrates. If we are talking about root crops, you can partially get rid of nitrates – peel and soak the root crops in cold water. In this way, up to 70% of nitrates can be removed. By the way, it is better to always peel the skin of the fruit, and cut it off, not sparing, in a rather thick layer, since it is in it that pesticides accumulate. There is a misconception that the largest fruit is the best. This is not so: the fact is that the amount of nutrients in each fruit bud is genetically determined. That is, from an ordinary, medium-sized apple, there will be as much benefit as from a giant overgrowth. Therefore, it makes sense to choose vegetables and fruits of the most average size – within the variety. Now about why the most useful for us is what grows in our latitudes. Here, not even the genotype is more important, but the phenotype of a person – that is, not innate features, but those that are formed under the influence of the environment. In the course of life, the body adapts to the specific qualities of products, to a certain set of enzymes and biologically active substances that are contained in local fruits. When something unfamiliar enters the body, a rejection reaction occurs, immune mechanisms are activated. Therefore, there is no guarantee that some exotic fruit will bring both benefit and pleasure.
Marina Popovich – Candidate of Medical Sciences, Director of the Department of Nutrition at the Healthy Food Company.
Color therapy
Another interpretation of the effect of color on our body is offered by ancient Chinese medicine. Here are its main provisions.
Green fruits and leaves, such as cabbage, lettuce, cucumbers, green peas, green apples and peppers, have the general property of strengthening the liver.
Vegetables and fruits of red color – from paprika and tomatoes to cherries, cherries, apples, watermelon, strawberries, strawberries, pomegranates – purify blood and lymph, improve blood circulation and strengthen the heart.
Yellow fruits – bananas, lemons, pineapples, yellow apples and grapes, turnips and yellow plums – give energy and improve mood.
Protective color
Most of the pigments responsible for the color of fruits and vegetables belong to the flavonoid group. These are antioxidant substances that help a living plant resist the attack of free radicals. These substances were first isolated Albert Szent-Gyorgyi, a scientist who received the Nobel Prize for the discovery of vitamin C in the 30s of the last century. To date, more than 4000 varieties of flavonoids have been discovered. It is already known that some of them (for example, quercetin and rutin) strengthen the cardiovascular system, lowering cholesterol and reducing the risk of a heart attack. According to the results of research by Japanese specialists at the Saitama Cancer Research Center*, flavonoids contained in tea slow down the development of cancerous tumors.
*«Food Colorings». Science News Online, 2005.
orange lettuce
Carrot slices, red lentils and grapefruit. As a seasoning – sweet and sour Chinese sauce.
pink salad
Beetroot leaves, boiled beets, canned or boiled red beans, pink lettuce, radishes and a little nut butter as a dressing.
Green salad
Spinach sprouts, green lentils, wheat germ, broccoli, lettuce and pistachios dress with a little wine vinegar and olive oil.
white salad
White cabbage, champignons, celery, sour apple; yoghurt and white sesame sauce.
Playing with flowers
Using the principles of the chromo-diet, we do not impoverish our diet in any way in terms of its nutritional value: it is quite possible to create a monochrome (one-color) balanced menu, including proteins (mushrooms and legumes), fats (nuts, vegetable oil, yogurt), carbohydrates and fiber (vegetables and fruits). The idea of a one-color menu is attractive from another point of view. Compiling it can bring an element of creativity in the spirit of Zen into our daily care of our daily bread: when life is constantly vanity, it will help us focus on one thing. In this case, on what we eat, on the color of this dish and the taste that each component brings to it. Try one of the French chef’s four one-color salads Sebastian Godard – and you will probably want to improvise on the theme of color and further.