Pack a purple punch!

Purple fruit and vegetables

When you include purple or blue fruit and vegetables into your daily diet you are giving your body a real boost!

Anthocyanin pigments are responsible for the red, purple, and blue colors of many fruits, vegetables, cereal grains and flowers.

Purple fruits and vegetables carry more anthocyanins and phenolics than any other color of produce. These two antioxidants (that are ultimately a result of a purple crop’s phytochemical signature) have been at the heart of much of the hype over berries, particularly blueberries, as cancer-fighting agents.

Anthocyanins in particular can noticeably slow the growth of colon cancer cells. But it’s not just berries… any purple (or blue-ish) produce has a powerful punch of these antioxidants, which are also proven to be anti inflammatory, help urinary tract health, memory loss, and the general effects of aging.

Anthocyanins are one class of flavonoid compounds found within fruit and vegies. Through the much publicized “French paradox”, the public has become aware that certain populations of red-wine drinkers in France and Italy have much lower rates of coronary heart disease (CHD) than their North American and Northern European counterparts. It is widely accepted that red wine phenolics contribute at least partly to this beneficial effect.

Mortality from CHD is inversely correlated with the intake of flavonoids in the diet. Flavonoids may also help prevent strokes; some flavonoids have also been shown to inhibit tumour development.

When was the last time you packed a purple punch?

Include the following into your daily diet as often as you can:

Eggplants, purple haze carrots, purple basil, bilberries, purple beans, purple scallions,   beets, radishes, purple peppers, blackberries, plums, prunes, purple/red cabbage,   grapes, purple/red onions, figs, blue corn, and purple/blue potatoes!

References
http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/ss01/product/anthocyanin