Why is Eating Colourful Food Good for You?
Most of us are faced with the same choice numerous times a day：what to eat. Along with price, accessibility and preference, we'll often use a food's healthfulness to help us make a decision.
It's widely accepted by researchers that we need a varied diet. The proof may be in the Mediterranean diet, which contains a lot of fruit, vegetables and healthy fats such as extra virgin olive oil, and is frequently rated the healthiest diet by scientists.
Eating lots of colours may lower your risk of missing out on all vital nutrients. "If we're missing a colour of the rainbow, we may be missing a function of that food, "says Minich. This is because plant foods contain thousands of natural compounds, which have anti-inflammatory（抗炎的）benefits.
Blue and purple foods, including blueberries, have a high content of the plant anthocyanin（花青素）, which has been linked to lowering the risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes. Flavones（黄酮类化合物）, which give foods a yellow colour, may reduce the risk of heart disease.
A research fellow at Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health says eating a colourful diet can also help people avoid possible side effects of eating too much of one food. " For example, research has found that orange juice is associated with a lower risk of cognitive decline, but too much intake is associated with type 2 diabetes, "she says. Although, this is because of its sugar content, not flavonoids（黄酮类）.
Eating a rainbow diet may also be complex. We could get into trouble. We also need to eat from other food groups to get all the nutrients we need, such as protein.
| A. Food is very complex. B. A varied diet is packed with different vegetables. C. Different coloured foods come with different benefits. D. But how do we know we're getting enough nutrients? E. It could be really difficult to get every colour every day. F. However, is colour the best guide to getting all the nutrients? G. And one way to do this is by eating all the colours of the rainbow. |
