| credits:

In our Wednesday edition, we talked about the reasons to eschew Western diet, what with the findings of researchers who warn that eating a diet filled with trans fats could lead to premature death.

However, it is not enough to know which diet to ditch; we also need to know which one to adopt for healthy living.

A doctor of Chinese medicine, who is also an authority in anti-aging medicine, Mao Shing Ni, contends that human beings can find longevity at the end of the rainbow. By this, he means eating naturally colourful foods as opposed to those laced with artificial food colourings leads to good health, a precursor of sound aging.

Indeed, the new dietary guidelines from the American Dietetic Association encourage people to literally colour their plates with a rainbow of foods, especially to ward off health and beauty problems from heart disease to wrinkles.

Ni notes that these guidelines correspond to an age-old Eastern philosophy that one should eat foods of every colour each day. He says, Eastern wisdom believes that health and longevity depend on a balance of the five elemental energies represented by five colours: red, orange/yellow, green, white and blue/purple.

Nutritionists contend that both Western nutritional science and Eastern wisdom agree that when you eat foods that contain all the colours, you are working far more disease-combating nutrients and vitamins into your meal. Professor of Human Nutrition at Ambrose Alli Univeristy, Ekpoma, Edo State, Prof. Ignatius Onimawo, says vegetables, fruits, beans and legumes, nuts and grains all contain these colours in varying degrees, and are therefore worthy for the table.

Red

Colour psychologists say just as is the case in fashion world, red seems to have dominance with regard to actual food products as well. Experts say this is probably because red is the colour that induces hunger, as it instantly attracts attention. Nutritionists say it also makes people excited, energetic, and increases the heart rate.

Ni explains that the pigments that impart the red colouring to many foods are known as anthocyanins, flavonoid compounds that fight free radicals and prevent oxidative damage to cells.

More:
Colourful foods for longevity