C Is For Cucumbers, Carrots and...

C Is For Cucumbers, Carrots and Colors

Veggies Look Good in You

Colors that look good in you. Yellows and oranges are rich in vitamin A and Greens detoxify and are enhanced with vitamin C. The darker the color the better the nutritional value of all of your fruits and vegetables.  Bananas pack in the benefits as they turn darker and even have brown spots on the skin only means more potassium and other benefits for you. Purple, as in prunes, plums, berries, contribute to eye health. And a glass of Cabernet (one a day for women two for men) is also a plus for your health.

What do we mean, that look good in you?  Vitamin and nutritional health for glowing healthier you, that's what we are talking about here. A you that will live a longer more productive life doing what you enjoy doing.

Look at yellow and orange first. Apricots are a good source of vitamin A and C and the cancer preventing lycopene. Bananas have potassium benefits; cantaloupe has beta carotene and one hundred percent of your daily requirements can be found in a single cup. That cup will include one hundred thirteen percent of your vitamin C needs as well.

Another yellow/orange vegetable powerhouse is the carrot for its vitamin A benefits (and others as well) one hundred fifty of your daily needs in one small cup of carrot. Cook them whole and then slice them so as not to leech out valuable nutrients.

Oranges have vitamin C and potassium, Peaches have A and C, niacin and minerals. Sweet potatoes have 25,000 IU of Vitamin C, folate, Calcium and manganese in one baked sweet potato. Talk about bang for your buck Sweet Potatoes are tops.

Acorn squash is a source of lycopene, folate, and vitamins A and C as well as dietary fiber and nine hundred milligrams of potassium per cup. 

You could conceivably, alternate these vegetables daily and get to all of them every week. Think of having fruits for dessert instead of cake (empty calories with few nutritional benefits) or fat and sugar laden ice cream.

The second color we'll explore is green. Kermit the Sesame Street Frog may say, "It ain't easy being green," but eating green is easy and healthy.

Greens include the hero broccoli. A powerhouse of good-for-you eating. Loaded with vitamins. Eaten raw, steamed, or as a topping on a veggie pizza –its versatile and good eating.

Asparagus gives you twenty-five percent of your daily vitamin A and fifteen percent of the vitamin C and essential folic acid in only eight medium spears with negligible caloric intake.

Collard greens are packed with vitamin A (150% of your daily need in ½ cup of cooked collard greens) thirty percent of your vitamin C and fifteen percent of your calcium.

Kale also rich in vitamin A and is a source of lutein. A ½ cup of cooked Kale has nearly seven times the recommended daily amount of Vitamin K.

Let's not forget spinach. Many a Popeye the Sailor fan looked to explode his or her strength with the cartoon character's favorite veggie. Rich in vitamin A and K, folate, and packed with Lutein it is also associated with a lower risk of macular degeneration for those looking to age gracefully without vision problems.

Our final trip into the colorful world of eating healthy we'll look at purples.  Purple isn't just for the Red Hatter women in the world. From prunes and plums to berries and kidney beans the color purple is good for you. 

Everyone knows the cure for constipation is prune juice, but 1/ cup of dried prunes provide ¼ of your daily fiber while providing you with potassium, vitamin A, B6 and powerful antioxidants. How's that for maximizing your snack, breakfast treat or menu.

What about kidney beans? Whether they are your favorite ingredient in three bean salad or chili, they are rich in fiber, iron and proteins as well as potassium, magnesium and folate.

You can use Kidney beans as an occasional substitute for a meatless meal for potential brain food. Cook your own beans using dried beans to avoid the added salt in canned beans and a bag of beans is cheaper than a can of prepared beans. Out in Colorado in a small café in Durango they served chili beans as a side dish with every order, no matter what it was. I thought that was a great addition instead of chips or fries with a burger or anything.

Berries: blueberries, blackberries, black raspberries, grapes and the Cabernet wine made from them. Purple looks very good for you and your health.

So many choices. Such a hearty variety of ways to eat cheap and healthy.

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