Eating 5 Colors Everyday

A doctor once advised me on dieting: "Try to eat 5 colors per day", because more variety of food will give our body a better coverage of the different nutrients. Off hand I could not think of many varieties of food which are from different colors. But over time with the awareness of this "food of different colors" I realized that it is not that difficult. Below are some of the common and easily available healthy fruits and vegetables in each color:

• Green - kiwi, broccoli, asparagus, celery, honeydew, spinach, lettuce, cabbage, cucumbers, green bell pepper, green beans, green apples
  
• Orange - oranges, carrot, pumpkin, mangoes, sweet potatoes, peaches, apricots
  
• Red - red apples, papaya, watermelon, dragonfruit, tomatoes, pink guava, grapefruit (pink), strawberries, cherries, red cabbage, beetroot, red chili pepper/capsicum, red beans
  
• Yellow - banana, pineapple, lemon, starfruit, corn, yellow pepper/capsicum
  
• Purple/blue - grapes, eggplant / brinjal, blackberries, prunes, plums, some potatoes, purple cabbage, raisins, blueberries
  
• White - cauliflower, potatoes, onion, pear, garlic, mangosteens

I found a website which provides some detailed information on the nutrient values of the food at here. Let's try to have more colors in our food and eat healthy!

Grapefruit

Grapefruit is a highly acidic pink citrus fruit with high levels of vitamin C, potassium and antioxidant. It is a very healthy fruit and can help to prevent cancer. It also helps to lower cholesterol and helps the body to burn fat. As the taste is not so sweet with a little bit of bitterness some people may not like it.The texture is close to pomelo which is a famous product in Ipoh, Perak in Malaysia. Another close relative is sweetie. Below is a picture of grapefruit taken from Wikepedia.

I only got to know about grapefruit as an adult as it was not a common fruit in Asia. As it is a very healthy fruit, I try to consume it from time to time. In general, the size of a grapefruit is almost 1.5 times of an orange. As one whole grapefruit per time is too much for me to consume alone (as my family members do not particularly love this fruit) sometimes I will seize the opportunity to drink grapefruit juice which is sold in some restaurants and served during buffet breakfast in the hotels. Recently I found a great way to consume more of it by juicing it myself! By mixing with other fruits the taste is diluted and not as strong. My young children who cannot eat grapefruit directly can also enjoy the benefits of grapefruit by drinking the juice.

As I was writing this and searching for information online, I read that there was a survey conducted on 50,000 postmenopausal women in US which suggested that those who consumed 1/4 grapefruit everyday may increase the risk of breast cancer (this was mentioned in Wikepedia as well). This sounds scary and contradicts with many other studies which shows that it helps to prevent breast cancer. But as with all other things, I believe that moderation is the key. As there are so many different choices of fruits available, my current grapefruit intake is hardly even 1 per week on average. So I will still continue to enjoy grapefruit and its juice without worrying. May you enjoy grapefruit too!