Link Exchange Directory

All health experts recommend a diet with fruits and vegetables across the spectrum of color. Americans do not get enough fruits and vegetables in their diets.

Nearly all fruits and vegetables are low-fat and contain fiber and natural chemicals known as phytonutrients that can help protect against heart disease, cancer and age-related cognitive decline, cataracts and macular degeneration.

Government health experts say that people should get a minimum 7 and as many as 13 servings a day of fresh produce daily. Currently it's estimated that less than 10% of the population fulfils that requirement. As many as 50 percent of Americans don't eat a piece of fruit all day long. Nine servings are optimal for health maintenance for the average adult.

Counting servings may not be adequate if you are missing out on one or more major color categories. Not all members of the fruit and vegetable group are alike.

They have unique properties that provide combinations of substances with unique effects on human biology. Therefore, simply eating nine servings a day of fruits and vegetables will not guarantee that you are eating enough of the different substances needed to stimulate the metabolic pathways of genes in the different organs where fruits and vegetables have their beneficial effects.

The colors represent 25,000 chemicals that are beneficial. There is evidence that interaction between the colors provides benefits, so it's important to have a diverse diet and eat different foods. We normally eat three color groups on average in this country. Heber believes in evolutionary terms, man started out on a plant-based diet.

Fruits and vegetables are historically and biologically important. Our ancestors the hunter-gatherers ate over 800 varieties. The different colors represent families of compounds, and we have even selectively bred the colors we eat into an even narrower range. There are red carrots in India, we eat orange ones. There are 150 varieties of sweet peas, but only a few are available to us. We need to make an extra effort to eat many different foods to get the full range of benefits. There are seven color categories:

Red Group (tomatoes, juice, pink grapefruit, watermelon)
These contain the carotenoid lycopene, which helps rid the body of free radicals that damage genes. Lycopene seems to protect against prostate cancer as well as heart and lung disease. Processed juices contain a lot of the beneficial ingredients, but most are high in sodium. Plus one glass of fresh tomato juice can give you 50 percent of the recommended lycopene.

Yellow/Green Group (spinach greens, collard greens, mustard greens, turnip greens, yellow corn, green peas, avocado, honeydew melon)

Orange Group (carrots, mangos, apricots, cantaloupes, pumpkin, acorn squash, winter squash, sweet potatoes)

Orange/Yellow Group (pineapple, orange juice, oranges, tangerines, peaches, papayas, nectarines)

Red/Purple Group (beets, eggplant, purple grapes, red wine, grape juice, prunes, cranberries, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, red apples)

Green Group (broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, Chinese cabbage or bok choi, kale)

White/Green Group -- (leeks, scallions, garlic, onions, celery, pears, white wine, endive, chives)

All of the above have properties that are very beneficial to supporting good health and helping prevent sickness and disease. Juice Plus+ makes it a bit easier to achieve, with nutrients from 7 different fruits, 8 different vegetables and 2 grains. There is also a berry blend that contains nutrients from 9 different grapes and berries.

Diet and exercise can help reduce the risk of diseases like heart disease and stroke, diabetes and cancer. Learn why eating fruits and vegetables is especially important, and how you can benefit from adding Juice Plus + to your diet. Juice Plus+ is said to be the next best thing to fruits and vegetables.

The Health & Wellness Institute