In the first of four articles on live food, Nutritionist Belinda Rennie offers some refreshing approaches to your health regime including recipes for juicing, sprouting and in this article, eating by colour.

Make a mental note of all the food and drink you consumed yesterday if it was a typical day. How much of it was raw food? What colour was it? These two questions are critical to your current health. A rainbow diet of a minimum of 50% raw foods with lots of colour provides not only essential vitamins and minerals, but plant chemicals and living enzymes that power many of the chemical reactions in our body. A “biogenic” diet of live, organic foods add more energy to regenerate the body than any other food.

Unfortunately most of the food we eat is beige in colour and cooked to death such as white bread, processed breakfast cereals and French fries. Cooking destroys much of the vital nutrients and enzymes in the food and draws energy away from the body leaving us feeling depleted, run down and susceptible to illness.

Foods that come in vivid hues have an arsenal of disease-fighting chemicals called phytonutrients. Here are the seven colour families with the main fruits and vegetables:

Red/purple

These foods contain powerful antioxidants called anthocyanins that may cut your risk of stroke, Alzheimer's, and heart disease:

Aubergine

Beetroot

Blackberries

Blueberries

Cherries

Cranberries

Plums

Prunes

Purple/red grapes

Raspberries

Red apples

Red cabbage

Red pepper

Red wine

Strawberries

Red

Any tomato-based food provides a big dose of lycopene a cancer-fighting antioxidant especially helpful for prostate cancer. Try also:

Guava

Pink grapefruit

Watermelon

Orange

The beta carotene in orange foods boosts eye and skin health and may decrease risk of certain cancers

Apricots

Cantaloupe melon

Carrots

Mango

Pumpkin

Sweet potato 

Orange/yellow

These cousins to the orange family are also rich in protective antioxidants.

Nectarines

Oranges

Papaya

Peaches

Pineapple

Tangerines

Yellow grapefruit

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Yellow/green

Further protection for your eyes: these foods contain lutein and zeaxanthin which may help fight cataracts and macular degeneration;

Avocado

Courgette

Cucumber

Green beans

Green peas

Green or yellow pepper

Honeydew melon

Kiwi

Romaine or leaf lettuce

Spinach

Spring greens

Sweetcorn

Green

Green foods pack natural chemicals called isothiocyanates and indoles which stimulate production of cancer-fighting liver enzymes. Protective for breast and colon cancer.

Broccoli

Brussels sprouts

Cabbage

Cauliflower

Chinese cabbage

Kale

Swiss Chard 

White/green

Garlic and onions contain allicin, a tumour fighter. These foods are rich in flavonoids which protect against cell damage

Artichokes

Asparagus

Celery

Chives

Endive

Leeks 

Fresh, organic living foods contain the right combination of nutrients that no man-made supplement can ever replace. Look at the above list and start by increasing the amount and variety of raw food in your diet:

ü      Eat at least three pieces of brightly-coloured fruit from the different colour families per day.

ü      Have a salad as a major part of one meal each day, usually lunch, with dark green leafy lettuces like rocket, romaine, oak leaf lettuce with sprouts, avocado, beetroot, tomato, carrot, cucumber, celery etc.

ü      Start juicing by making a fresh pressed carrot, apple, celery juice or other fruit/vegetable combination daily.

ü      Wherever possible buy organic fruits and vegetables in season. Peel or throw away outer leaves and wash thoroughly to reduce pesticide residues.

ü      Eat wholefoods rather than refined or processed foods including wholegrains like oats and brown rice, nuts, seeds, lentils and beans.

ü      Use light cooking techniques such as wok frying and steaming for vegetables rather than frying.

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