Consider color coding your fruits and vegetables. When you think about their color, you will think about all those health benefits. Naturally occurring substances called phytochemicals are found mostly in fruits and vegetables and they play an important role to protect your health. Carotenoids are just one of many phytochemicals. Within the carotenoid family is lutein, one of many colorful carotenoids that protect your eyes and skin and help repair damaged cells.
Dark Green Vegetables
Dark green leafy vegetables contain the highest amounts of lutein, according to the USDA Nutrient Database. Next time you are at the market, stop by the produce aisle and choose some leafy vegetables such as kale, spinach, turnip greens, collards, mustard greens and dandelion greens. Add these vegetables in stir-fry recipes and soups or sautee them in olive oil with onions and garlic.
The Color Orange
Orange-colored fruits and vegetables are good sources of lutein. Try snacking on oranges, tangerines, peaches, papayas, apricots and melons, which are all high in lutein, according to the USDA Nutrient Database. Fresh, frozen or dried fruits all have the same amount of lutein. For your orange-colored vegetables, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, winter squash and especially carrots are high in lutein. Winter is the perfect time for making soups and stews that contain carrots, sweet potatoes and squash and pumpkin pie.
The Color Red
Beets, apples, pomegranates, red grapes, tomatoes, red peppers, red onions and all kinds of red berries are good sources of lutein, according to the USDA Nutrient Database. If you cannot find these as fresh, then buy them frozen or canned, but without added sugar.
