|
A SALAD AND A PEDOMETER
Child Obesity in America
The color and shape of a package can influence us to purchase a food item. Various colors evoke in us different emotional reactions. Red is considered a warm and inviting color and is a popular color for packaging. White or silver suggests reduced calories. Sales of a sugar-free Ginger-Ale increased after the labels contained more white. Black is a symbol of quality and is associated with high class, expensive goods.
Green is considered pro-health and good for the environment. Candy bars are viewed by customers as healthier (fewer calories and less fat) when they appear in green wrappers. Yellow is a happy color, an attention getter. Hence it is commonly used on many food items such as crackers and cereal boxes. Orange appears on inexpensive items as it is associated with that which is affordable. We tend to avoid selecting any "anemic-looking" produce believing that it lacks certain nutrients.
We usually associate rich colors with better health and protection against disease. To date, there has been over 6000 plant pigments identified. The most common are the carotenoids (over 600) and the flavonoids (over 5000). The carotenoids appear in yellow, orange and red fruits and vegetables and green, leafy vegetables while the flavonoids are ubiquitous throughout the plant kingdom, and appear as ivory to yellow pigments. The flavonoid content in plants depends upon the plant species, the growing conditions, the degree of ripeness and the amount and type of food processing.
Different parts of the plant also vary in their level of flavonoids. Flavonoids in fruits increase with ripeness, and the skin of fruit has 8- to 10-fold more flavonoids than the pulp. The outer leaves of lettuce have 10-60 times more quercetin (a flavonoid) than the inner leaves. The bran and germ of grains (which are removed in the refining process), the colored seed coats of beans, and the brown skins of nuts are very rich in the health-promoting flavonoids and other protective polyphenolic antioxidants.
How readily available are the carotenoid pigments in our food? Well, that varies from one food to another. Beta-carotene is more readily available from broccoli and green peas than from carrots and green, leafy vegetables. Heating and blending vegetables (such as carrots or green, leafy vegetables) enhances the absorption of carotenoids. Lycopene is better absorbed from tomato paste than from tomatoes. Beta-carotene is also much more readily available from fruit than from leafy vegetables. The absorption of the carotenoids always depends upon a certain amount of fat being present in the diet.
People who consume high levels of antioxidant-rich colored fruits and vegetables, whole grains and legumes are consistently found to have lower rates of cardiovascular disease and cancer. Lycopene (the red pigment found in tomatoes and watermelon) is reported to be associated with lower prostate cancer and less heart disease, while lutein (the carotenoid found in green peas, green beans and green, leafy vegetables) is associated with less colon cancer. In addition, fruit and vegetable extracts (such as blueberry, strawberry and spinach) have been found to retard age-related declines in cognitive function. Some carotenoids are also known to stimulate immune function. The anthocyanins and other pigments found in purple grape juice are associated with a reduced risk of blood clot formation. In the Nurses' Health Study it was observed that women who consumed the highest level of the carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin had a 22 percent lower risk of cataract extraction compared with those having the lowest intake.
Printer Friendly Page
|
