Food Colour: ORANGE/YELLOW

So if you have been watching this space you will realise that I have been briefly highlighting the colour of food: specifically fruits and vegetables and their health benefits. Today, is the turn of the orange and yellow hue. Foods of these colours include yellow melons, pineapples, oranges, lemons, carrots, sweet potatoes, star fruits, etc.

The orange and yellow hues are rich in carotenoids¹, a class of naturally occurring plant chemicals or phytonutrients². These are also responsible for the red in fruits and vegetables. The health benefits that come with eating orange, yellow and red fruits and vegetables are as a result of the ability of the carotenoids in these fruits and vegetables to act as provitamins (can be converted to actual vitamins inside the human body such as Beta carotene into vitamin A) and an antioxidant³ (Read the previous article to get the summarised list of benefits for eating antioxidants: https://www.sgmccancercentre.com/2018/03/rainbow-coloured-foods-red-2/).

I would like to end here by quoting the conclusion of a 2017 academic article in the World Journal of Gastroenterology written by Lee et al: “Vegetables and fruits intake from various colour groups may protect against colorectal cancer.”⁴

By Frema Asiedu (Registered Nutritionist)

References:

• Slavin, J. L., & Lloyd, B. (2012). Health Benefits of Fruits and Vegetables. Advances in Nutrition, 3(4), 506–516. http://doi.org/10.3945/an.112.002154
• Jessie Szalay 2015. What Are Carotenoids? Retrieved on 19^th March 2017 from https://www.livescience.com/52487-carotenoids.html
• Liu, R. H. (2013). Health-Promoting Components of Fruits and Vegetables in the Diet. Advances in Nutrition, 4(3), 384S–392S. http://doi.org/10.3945/an.112.003517
• Lee, J., Shin, A., Oh, J. H., & Kim, J. (2017). Colors of vegetables and fruits and the risks of colorectal cancer. World Journal of Gastroenterology, 23(14), 2527–2538. http://doi.org/10.3748/wjg.v23.i14.2527