You should understand how important it is to consume whole foods. Forget about the processed junk food and the candy aisle, it’s time to hone in on getting the most out of your grocery list.
Most of your diet needs to consist of whole fruits and veggies.
Did you know that eating by color has become a new way to improve your healthy diet? Choose wisely the next time you enter the grocery store and pick out your favorite foods by color.
Moreover, food with the color red is packed with amazing benefits. The best foods found in the red family are strawberries, red peppers, beets, tomatoes, cherries, and pomegranates.
Read on to discover the amazing benefits of eating red foods in this article.
1. Red Foods are Rich in Antioxidants
Are you familiar with the importance of antioxidants? Antioxidants are great for reducing pain and inflammation in the body.
If you are someone who suffers from tight joints, you may need to stock up on the number of cherries you consume on a regular basis. Cherries are one of the best red foods out there because they contain high levels of antioxidants.
Even if fresh cherries are unavailable due to the season, you can stock up on some in the frozen food aisle of your local grocery store or farmer’s market. You can always buy dried cherries to create your own healthy trail mix, too.
Cherries are one of the best red foods available to treat your chronic joint pain because they contain anthocyanin, the powerful antioxidant that treats pain and inflammation.
Anthocyanin is a flavonoid that is a naturally occurring plant pigment found in many fruits and vegetables that give these foods their colorings.
There are so many wonderful health benefits of consuming these red fruits and veggies because they contain plenty of flavonoids to aid in the prevention of heart disease, cancer, and strokes.
2. Red Foods Fight Off Cancer
The red food contains antioxidants to fight off free radicals that may ultimately turn into cancer. A person’s body can be affected by harmful free radicals which means you must reduce this potential damage by eating the best whole red foods possible.
Another red food that fights off deadly cancer is spicy red peppers. Red peppers are red foods that contain capsaicin, which can relieve arthritis and even help with throbbing headaches.
Capsaicin can protect blood vessels and increases the body’s metabolic rate.
Red foods are also important to help fight off cancer. Incorporate more of these dark produce favorites to get your body on track as you age.
Pomegranates are dark red foods that also aid in the prevention of prostate cancer. Pomegranate juice has shown to help reduce the buildup of plaque in the arteries found within the body.
3. Red Foods are Easy to Cook With
In addition to the amazing health benefits of red foods, it’s also essential to note how easy it is to cook with these fruits and veggies.
For example, beets are a beautiful red vegetable that can be cooked up in a variety of ways. Beets can be roasted for dinner or they can be shredded up to eat raw in a tasty spinach salad. The options are available for you to be creative with this vegetable no matter how you decide to use it.
Don’t let your fear of cooking keep you from eating healthy red foods.
You can also chop up some bright red strawberries and add them to blend with other fruits into a delicious breakfast smoothie.
Strawberries are loaded with powerful antioxidants and are some people’s absolute favorite fruit to enjoy.
Most berries have polyphenols with anti-inflammatory properties. An easy way to make sure you are eating enough berries in your diet is by cramming as many as you can into one tasty breakfast smoothie!
4. Red Foods Feed Your Gut Bacteria
Packing your diet with nutrient-dense bright red fruits and vegetables will ensure that you are achieving a balanced diet on a normal basis.
Did you know that your gut bacteria play an important role in maintaining your health?
Your gastrointestinal microbiota is responsible for keeping your digestive tract in line. Your gut can tell a lot about the rest of your body, too.
Pay close attention to the symptoms you experience in your gut. Some of the symptoms to look out for are an upset stomach, food intolerances, and unintentional weight changes. Alert your doctor to any of these signs immediately.
What starts out in your gut can often lead to more health problems down the road.
The intestinal bacteria found in your gut will rely on the compounds found in red foods to keep everything moving in the right direction.
These intestinal bacteria are fed by food in the red family. These fruits and veggies are known as prebiotic. The food found in the red family will also keep your immune system in check.
5. What Else Do Red Foods Contain?
Antioxidants and polyphenols are just a few amazing benefits of red foods.
There are also plenty of vitamins inside your favorite dark colored fruits and veggies that fight chronic diseases, too.
Vitamin C and vitamin A are found in strawberries and peppers, respectively. Vitamin C helps with collagen synthesis while vitamin A is great for keeping your skin, hair, and nails looking young. Both these vitamins fight skin aging.
Want to Learn How to Maintain a Healthy Diet Rich in Red Foods?
At African Mango Supreme, we want to see you get healthy naturally.
We hope you can see how important it is to consume red foods at every meal. You can easily add some strawberries into your breakfast smoothie, shred some beets into your salad, and cook up some spicy peppers for dinner.
Read our articles found on our website on buying organic food online to start your journey to becoming a mindful eater today.
Eating the right nutrient-dense foods is just one step to a balanced diet. You also need to add regular exercise to your weekly routine.