We all heard our mothers telling us that if we want to be healthy, we must eat our greens. Then we get a plateful of beans, broccoli, cabbage, and lettuce. These foods are healthy; there’s no doubt about that. But greens aren’t the only healthy foods out there. There is another color that we need to put into our plates: red! Red foods are healthy but don’t get the attention they deserve thanks to their green counterparts. If you want to stay healthy, here are a few red foods to eat:
Tomatoes
Tomatoes are fruits (not vegetables!) which are rich in carotenoids such as lycopene and beta-carotene. Lycopene is considered as one of the best antioxidants. Eating tomatoes can decrease the risk of breast cancer and prostate cancer so be sure to include tomatoes in your daily diet. If you’re a salad fan, make sure to include bits of tomatoes in your salad. If you don’t want to eat the fruit itself, you can use tomato sauce when cooking pasta, drink tomato juice, or include a salsa dip with your meals.
Apples
Remember this phrase: an apple a day keeps the doctor away? This phrase actually speaks volumes about the health benefits of apples. Apples are a rich source of antioxidants, epicatechins, fiber, and quercetins. Eating apples can reduce the risk of different forms of cancer, prevent diabetes and heart disease, and can even give your skin a better glow! Apples can protect you against the dangers of Alzheimer’s disease, and lower bad cholesterol. So you see, eating an apple a day does keep the doctor away!
Cherries
Cherries are a tasty fruit that can help our bodies in so many ways. Cherries contain many important nutrients like vitamins A and C, bioflavonoids, anthocyanins, and melatonin. Anthocyanins are rich antioxidants that can protect us against cancer, diabetes, aging, and neurological diseases. Melatonin is also a strong antioxidant with anti-aging properties. Asides from its health benefits, cherries taste good and are low in calories. They make the perfect dessert! Cherries can be eaten by itself or used as an ingredient for pie. Eat cherries daily to improve your heart condition, and to fight against cancer.
Strawberries
It’s a good thing not all healthy foods taste so bad that we need encouragement to eat. Strawberries are one of the most delicious foods out there, and it’s one of the healthiest too! Strawberries are filled with antioxidants which fight free radicals. Free radicals are molecules that hurt our cells. They are a common source of eye problems and are known to cause cancer. Strawberries are also rich in vitamin C, vitamin B5, magnesium, potassium, and folic acid. Eating strawberries can detoxify our bodies by killing any unwanted chemicals, and regenerate the cells in our muscles and tissues. Strawberries can help regenerate worn out tissues in your brains which can help memory loss. To top it off, strawberries are low in calories, and are extremely delicious!
Watermelon
Just like most fruits, watermelons contain many healthy nutrients and vitamins, but it also has something else: water! On average, watermelon is 92% alkaline water. Most other fruit juices are acidic, but the watermelon’s ‘juices’ are neither acidic nor basic. If you don’t think highly of this, remember that water is not just healthy, but it is also one of our most basic needs. Asides from the obvious benefits of water, watermelon also contains lycopene which can prevent cancer, vitamin B, potassium, and citrulline. Be sure to eat the rind of the watermelon too as this is edible, and contains many vitamins.
So the next time someone tells you to eat greens, tell them that you will eat reds instead! Red foods can help as much as their green counterparts. Eat a few of each every day, and you’re going to live a healthy life.
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