Purple Fruits & Vegetables

Purple Fruits and Vegetables  By Joy Dalton

When watching cooking shows, reading cook books, or visiting a restaurant, you can see a variety of ingredients being used; however, you rarely find too many purple fruits and vegetables except for a blueberry or two. In fact, if your super market is anything like mine, you probably do not see too many in there as well. You see can see a sea of green vegetables all around, green vegetables are great, they contain Chlorophyll, Fiber, Lutein, Zeaxanthin, Calcium, Folate, Vitamin C, Calcium, and Beta-carotene. All these nutrients help to reduce cancer risks, lower blood pressure, LDL cholesterol levels, normalize digestion time, support retinal health, vision, fight harmful free-radicals, and boost the immune system. However, when you view vegetables in only one color, green, you are missing out on a group of fruits and vegetables that people get far too little of, the purple ones.

Blue and purple fruits and vegetables, like the green ones carry luten zeaxanthin, vitamin C, and fiber, and support retinal health, lower LDL cholesterol, boost immune the immune system, and support healthy digestion. These purple gems go even further because they also contain resveratrol, flavonoids, elegiac acid, and quercetin, all of whom are known to improve calcium and other mineral absorption, fight inflammation, reduce tumor growth, act as anti-carcinogens (anti-cancer causing) in the digestive tract, and limit the activity of cancer cells.

In fact the more colorful the fruit or vegetable, the more nutrients it contains, especially that anti-cancer causing properties along with the antioxidants with low calories. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, purple foods contain more of the ant-cancer cause nutrient, called anthocyanin, which is what is responsible for those purple, blue, and red colors of these fruits and vegetables. As an antioxidant, anthocyanin protects against cell damage from the free radicals you come in contact with in your everyday lives.

What are these free radicals you hear about, like here in this article; however, to understand what free radicals are, you must first understand a bit about cells and molecules. Here’s some physiology/chemistry 101. The human body is composed of many different types of cells. Cells are composed of many different types of molecules. Molecules consist of one or more atoms of one or more elements joined by chemical bonds.

Atoms consist of a nucleus, neutrons, protons, and electrons. The number of protons (positively charged particles) in the atom’s nucleus determines the number of electrons (negatively charged particles) surrounding the atom. Electrons are involved in chemical reactions, and are the substance that bonds atoms together to form molecules. Electrons surround, or “orbit” an atom in one or more shells. When the innermost shell is full, it has two electrons. When the first shell if full, electrons begin to fill the second shell, when the second shell has eight electrons, it is full, and so on.

The most important structural feature of an atom, for determining its chemical behavior, is the number of electrons in its outer shell. A substance that has a full outer shell tends not to enter in chemical reactions (an inert substance). Because atoms seek to reach a state of maximum stability, an atom will try to fill its outer shell by either gaining or losing electrons to either fill or empty its outer shell; or sharing its electrons by bonding together with other atoms in order to complete its outer shell. By sharing electrons, the atoms are bound together, and satisfy the conditions of maximum stability for the molecule.

Now to free radicals, which are formed when these weak bonds are split. Free radicals are very unstable, and react quickly with other compounds trying to capture the needed electron to gain stability. Generally these free radicals attack the nearest stable molecule, “stealing” its electron. When this molecule is “attacked”, it becomes a free radical itself, beginning a chain reaction. Once this chain reaction is started, it can cascade, finally resulting in the total disruption of a living cell.

Some free radicals form normally during metabolism, and the body’s immune system’s cells will purposefully create them to neutralize viruses and bacteria. However, other environmental factors, such as pollution, radiation, cigarette smoke, and herbicides can also spawn free radicals. Normally, the body can handle free radicals, but if antioxidants are unavailable, or if the free radical production becomes excessive, damage can occur. Too, free radical damage can accumulate with age.

So these purple fruits and vegetables, with their vitamins C and E, and anthocyanin can help protect the body against these destructive effects of free radicals. They neutralize the free radicals by donating one of their own electrons, ending the electron “stealing” reaction. These nutrients themselves do not become free radicals by donating an electron because they are stable in either from. They act as scavengers, helping to prevent cell and tissue damage that could lead to cellular damage and disease. Anthocyanin has also been studied for its effectiveness as an anti-carcinogen.

A carcinogen is a substance that is capable of causing cancer in humans or animals. If a substance is known to promote or aggravate cancer, but does not necessarily cause cancer, it may also be called a carcinogen. There are many things that are believed to cause cancer; a substance is only considered carcinogenic if there is significant evidence of its carcinogenicity. One, or more of these carcinogens may act on DNA, which causes dangerous changes, or it may work to increase the rate of cell division. This change in cell division may work to increase the probability of the DNA changes. Other carcinogens promote the development of cancer in other ways as well. Carcinogens do not necessarily lead to cancer after every exposure, some cause cancerous changes following high-level prolonged exposure, while others may cause damage at lower levels and shorter exposure periods. Too, your unique genetic makeup may influence the body’s response to any particular carcinogen. Many substances have been identified as carcinogenic, such as asbestos, radon, certain pesticides, arsenic, and tobacco smoke, which includes the smokeless tobacco. Even the sun, which is vital to life, is a major carcinogen. It emits ultraviolet rays (UV) that are carcinogenic, and is known to lead to a variety of cancers affecting the skin.

Unfortunately, carcinogens can be found in everything from snack foods and drinks, to certain types of plastic and everyday objects. You may remember reading that something you have used for years has made it to this list as a known carcinogen. There may be others, now you do not know about, one thing I learned by writing this article is that chlorine is one such carcinogen. We all have used chlorine for disinfecting water for bathing, drinking, and swimming. At the same time, its byproducts are capable of causing a range of illnesses, including lung cancer. Every two years the US federal government releases the Report of Carcinogens, by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, where they identify substances and circumstances that are “known” or are “reasonably anticipated” to cause cancer. Each year this cancer-causing list grows, with now over 246. Some new are compounds found in grilled meats, and a host of substances used in textile dyes, paints, and inks.

In the US, 1 in 2 men, and 1 in 3 women will develop cancer at some point in their lifetimes. Research shows that environmental factors will trigger it, especially when someone has a family history. Luckily, if we eat the right types of foods, we can help to protect ourselves from contracting such diseases. These purple fruits and vegetables have the antioxidant properties, like I have already mention, that can protect our cells from these free radicals that can cause cancer. The antioxidants called phytonutrients, are not only antioxidants, but also actively involved in balancing enzyme activity inside the cells. The dietary fiber, which is found in these fruits and vegetables, protects against cancer in a variety of ways. Firstly, it provides a healthy colon by stimulating muscle activity with its bulk, encouraging “friendly” bacteria, like acidophilus and bifidus, to grow and minimizing yeast overgrowth by maintaining a healthy acid/alkaline balance. The human body is 30 percent acid and 70 percent alkaline. When the body’s acid/alkaline balance is more acidic, we will tend to have more colds, and have an overall sick feeling in our bodies. These fruits and vegetables help with this, especially when you eat them raw. Secondly, dietary fiber provides bulk that speeds the transit through the colon and reduces any tendency to constipation. Thirdly, this bulk dilutes any potentially harmful dietary components, and reduces the time they might interact with the walls of the intestine. This is one good reason why a high fiber diet is associated with a lower incidence of colo-rectal cancers. You will find too, that when you are eating more dietary fiber, like fruits, vegetables, grains, beans, and other foods from the plant kingdom, you are eating less of the foods from the animal kingdom that do not have any fiber in them. This shift can help with the balance of the steroid hormones in your body from the animal, and it can also help with your cholesterol

If you have not seen enough reason as to why to incorporate these purple fruits and vegetables in your diet, here’s an even better reason. According to a study, people who eat purple vegetables have a reduced risk of heart disease, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome, a common metabolic disorder that is a precursor to Type 2 Diabetes. This study also showed that people who eat these purple fruits and vegetables have lower blood pressures, and smaller waists. Another study showed that purple fruits and vegetables reduce age-related conditions of the brain, and yet another study showed that a diet rich in purple potatoes help with osteoporosis, and those women who started eating purple potatoes after being diagnosed saw a 10 percent increase in bone density. These seem to be some compelling reasons to add more purple fruit and vegetables to your dies, now which one will you add?

Purple potatoes	Eggplant	Purple beans	Blueberries	Purple cauliflower
Purple asparagus	Hawaiian yams	Taro	German red cabbage	Beets
Purple figs	Purple grapes	Black raspberries	Purple bell pepper	Radicchio
Swiss chard	Purple kale	Prunes

You cannot go wrong with these purple fruits and vegetables, however to get more purple, you can just choose from eggplant, plums, cranberries, or beets. Or try something more exotic like purple cauliflower, or potatoes. The purple pigment that gives these fruits and vegetables their brilliant color just may do some wonderful things for your body, and your taste buds.

MedicineNet.net (2013) Cancer Causing Agents - Carcinogens

Wang, C. (2009) Effects of Purple Sweet Potato on Bone Metabolism

Rhoades, R., Bell, D. (2013) Medical Physiology, Principles for Clinical Medicine, 4th Edition

Katzin, C (2012) Fighting Cancer with a Fork

Committee on Comparative Toxicity of Natrually Occurring Carcinogens (1996) Carcinogens and Anticarcinogens in the Human Diet: A comparison of Naturally Occurring and Synthetic Substances

Teow, C., Truong, V., McFeeters, R., Thompson, R., Pecota, K., Yencho, G. (2006) Antioxidant activities, phenolic and b-carotene contents of sweet potato genotypes with varying flesh colours.