Eating every color of the rainbow is a healthy-eating concept that encourages you to gain a variety of nutrients through the food you eat. Scientists realize that the pigmentation in some food indicate nutritive values. Heinrich Wilhelm Ferdinand Wackenroder first isolated carotenoids from carrots in 1826. In the years that followed, science has advanced its knowledge about the powerful health benefits yellow and orange fruits and vegetables provide.
Carotenoids
Yellow and orange fruits and vegetables get their color from the fat-soluble plant pigments known as carotenoids. The most common carotenoids essential to human health include alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, beta-cryptoxanthin, lutein, zeaxanthin and lycopene.
Beta-Carotene
Beta-carotene is the most widely studied carotene, notes the University of Maryland Medical Center. The body converts the beta-carotene in some yellow and orange fruits and vegetables like sweet potatoes, pumpkins and carrots into vitamin A or retinol, the active form of vitamin A. Some scientists call beta-carotene provitamin A because of its ability to be converted from a hydrocarbon into vitamin A. This vitamin is fat-soluble, which means the body is able to store vitamin A in fat cells for later use. Beta-carotene supplements can be harmful, especially to smokers.
Benefits
Vitamin A is important for mucus membranes, a healthy immune system, strong bones and eye health. Vitamin A is also important to keep your skin healthy. People who eat lots of vegetables rich in carotenoids were 43 percent less likely to age-related macular degeneration which may cause blindness in the elderly, according to North Dakota State University. Another study showed men with high cholesterol who ate vegetables with carotenoids had a 36 percent less chance for heart attack than those men who did not eat yellow and orange vegetables. Be aware that eating excessive quantities of beta-carotene can cause a condition known as pseudojaundice, which turns the skin a yellow or orange hue.
Free Radicals
Carotenoids are antioxidants which fight unhealthy free radicals caused by digesting food, exposure to cigarette smoke and ultraviolet light. Free radicals react with protein and fats in cell membranes. Carotenoids and other antioxidants attach themselves to free radicals, an action that prevents free radicals from attaching to other cells.
Foods
Vegetables like yellow peppers, yellow and butternut squash, sweet corn, yellow tomatoes and sweet potatoes contain ample amounts of carotenoids. Pumpkin and rutabagas provide carotenoids. Many yellow and orange fruits contain carotenoids, including apricots, yellow apples, nectarines, pineapple and yellow watermelon.
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