Do you know that mixing colorful fruits and vegetables to become tasty and healthy dishes are considered as art? Well, when it comes to vegetables, most people will think green when the fact is not all vegetables are consisting of green leaves.
There are a lot of colors of vegetables and fruits and among the fascinating ones are blue and purple. The blue and purple fruits and vegetables contain active compound well known as anthocyanins. It is one of the phytochemicals that responsible to the blue and purple pigment of the color. Below are the list of blue and purple colored of fruits and vegetables and their list of health benefits.
- Beetroot
Beetroot is well known to be excellent immunity booster due to its vitamin c benefits content and several types of minerals such as potassium and iron.
The top health benefits of beets are including good for cardiovascular system by lowering the blood pressure, natural energy booster, containing anti-inflammatory properties and as rich of fiber, just like any vegetables that are rich of fiber beetroot is also good for digestion and excellent for detoxification.
- Purple Cauliflower
If you are familiar with the health benefits of cauliflower, the purple cauliflower is slightly different due to its color pigment content. The bright and beautiful purple color is due to content well known as anthocyanins.
It is among the list of potent flavonoids which are good for blood regulation, body weight management and blood sugar. For those who don’t know, flavonoids are one type of antioxidants which are also good to fight cancer.
- Purple Asparagus
It is a common knowledge that asparagus is one of the healthiest vegetables on earth.
However, the health benefits of purple asparagus are more than what you already know because the darker the color of the vegetables, the richer its antioxidants content.
It means, compared to the regular asparagus (green and white), purple asparagus is richer in antioxidants content. Moreover, it is also rich of fiber that is excellent for digestion and weight loss program.
- Blackberry
When it comes to the list of nutrients you could find in blackberry, the list could be very long. However, the dark color and the juicy texture is a strong indication that this fruit is super rich of antioxidants, vitamin E, vitamin A and beta-carotene.
As rich of antioxidants both fresh blackberry and blackberry tea is highly recommended as part of daily diet for cancer patients. Moreover, the high level of minerals like manganese is also excellent for brain health, so blackberry is also recommended for children in development stage.Â
- Purple Carrot
Carrot is everyone’s favorite due to its beta-carotene content which is great for human health. However, not all carrot is bright orange because there is one variety with dark purple color.
Besides beta-carotene just like in ordinary orange variety of carrot, purple carrot is also rich of vitamin A and antioxidants which content is almost similar to blueberries.
In other words, due to its antioxidant, vitamin A and beta-carotene contents both orange and purple carrot is good for eyes. There are a lot of health benefits of carrot and purple carrot is probably giving you more compared to the orange one.
- Purple Corn
Corn is one of the common commodities around the world and even in some countries corn is used as staple foods.
However, purple corn is not as popular as the regular yellow corn variety but you should know that the purple color of corn is the strong indication that purple corn contains more antioxidants.
However, purple corn has different texture with the regular yellow corn and the way it’s cooked is also slightly different.Â
- Plums
Are looking for healthy snack during a weight loss program? Plums are excellent choice because not only the fruit is tasty and juicy but also super low in calories.
The sweet juicy taste of plums are still safe even for diabetic patients to consume due to some active compounds contained in plums that are great to regulate blood sugar level and at the same time provide additional protection to cardiovascular health.
Moreover, it is also rich of fiber which is good for digestion. Plum is also delicious when they were made into jams or prunes.
- Purple Potato
In baking and culinary world there are a lot of food coloring alternative but if you could go natural and then purple potato is the best solution to natural food coloring.
The low calories and low sugar content of potato is great for diabetic patients because even diabetic patients still need carbohydrate to produce energy.
In other words, potato is excellent alternative of rice. However, don’t mistaken purple potato with purple yams because they are coming from different family and even the texture and taste is different, though the appearance is almost similar.
- Purple Kale
Do you sick of green leafy vegetables? And your children avoid everything you serve in plate with green color?
Perhaps you could switch the regular green kale with the purple one because it is not only healthy but also has attractive color that may improve your appetite.
You still could get all the health benefits of kale but with different color that is also a strong indication that purple kale is actually richer in antioxidant contents compared to the green kale. So, don’t hesitate to always add this vegetables with incredible health benefits to your plate.
- Purple Broccoli
Today, purple broccoli is not an easy vegetable to find because recently this kind of vegetable is only grown around Cornwall, UK. However, if somehow you have access to this vegetable don’t hesitate to add it to your daily diet because purple broccoli is very nutritious and also the great source of some essential vitamins and minerals such as vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin A, vitamin B complex, especially folic acid which is good for pregnant mother. Furthermore, just like the regular green broccoli, purple broccoli is also rich of calcium, iron and fiber.
Those are just some top choices of blue-purple group of fruits and vegetables, the list is even longer and some of them are:
- You don’t need to Popeye the Sailor Man to be healthy as long as you could have access to all the health benefits of purple spinach.
- Health benefits of purple yams are not only for vegan but also for everyone who needs extra plant-based protein.
- Add figs to your diet for all the health benefits of figs fruit you could enjoy during the season.
- There are a lot of varieties and health benefits of passion fruit but the purple ones always becomes the most favorite.
- There are a lot of health benefits of eggplant for weight loss, for pregnancy, for lowering cholesterol and so on.
- The tasty blueberry is nothing compared to the benefits of blueberry for human health.
- The health benefits of red cabbage lies on the beautiful reddish purple colored and its crunchy texture.
In summary, blue is not always associated with sad color, blueberry is one of the fruits with blue color which taste really amazing. Purple is not always about Dumbledore and magic but also the list of healthy fruits and vegetables with a lot of health benefits. So, from the list of health benefits of blue and purple fruits and vegetables mentioned above, why don’t you add some of them to your daily diet and enjoy all their amazing health benefits? Happy eating and healthy living!