Colorful Foods

Even thought it's winter and my garden is frozen, I am trying hard to eat lots of produce. My Grandma Jensen taught my Dad who taught me that it's important to eat all the colors of the rainbow.

Even though I've heard that all my life (recognize the rainbow platter? I've done it before), I never really knew why until I read a new book written by my sister-in-law, Alison, called "The Fix: How a More Integrative Body-Mind Approach Creates Lasting Health."

She explained it so well when she wrote:

"Flavonoids are plant pigments, but ingesting flavonoids is not at all the same as eating crayons! Flavonoids protect plants from microbes, insects, and fungi, and so it's not surprising that they inhibit bacteria and viruses in humans. They are also known to help modify certain cell responses, thus boosting health, and additionally acting in ways that are anti-allergic or anti-cancer. Some flavonoids you may have heard of include catechins, which are found in green tea, and quercetin, found in apples.

Carotenoids are also plant pigments that are known to aid the immune system in addition to having many other positive effects on the body. Lycopene is a carotenoid (tomatoes, watermelon, and pink grapefruit) associated with prostate health as well as with it's potential for preventing breast cancer.

Now it makes more sense why you'd want to fill your plate with colorful fruits and vegetables -- these colorful pigments promote good health."

And that is just a tiny taste of how great her book is! It explains complicated subjects in a way that makes it easy for unscientific people (like me) to understand and incorporate into life, and describes why things we do and don't do are so important to our health. It is refreshing and encouraging and makes me want to be better, because now I understand the why behind it. She is also really funny and I love her hints of humor throughout.

I really feel like she wrote it for me at this time. She addresses the disconnect between conventional medicine and alternative medicine and helps you integrate the best of each. She talks about prevention and increasing overall health, and finding root causes of problems rather than suppressing symptoms. 

Basically I am very grateful to her for her timely advice for me personally, and I think everyone should read it! It is amazing and will help anyone identify one or more things they can do to better take care of themselves.