Can U name the 4 new food groups?  Not bread, dairy, meat and blah stuff like that. The New groups are Red, Orange – Yellow, Green, and Blue – Purple, according it Tufts University professor James Joseph, Ph.D., the scientist who discovered that blueberries make aging mice smarter:

  The work of Joseph and others has turned eating colorful foods into a hot new diet trend. Admittedly, it’s a scientific gimmick to entice you to eat fruits and Vegetables. Still, it’s the smartest new eating idea around, illustrating the amazing power of color to dictate health choices. The more brilliant and intense a food’s pigment, the greater the food’s disease – fighting properties.

  The idea is backed up by evidence detailed in two new books: What color Is your Diet? The 7 Colors of Health, by David Herber, M.D., of the UCLA Center for Human Nutrition.

 Bad News on our Favorite Vegetable, the white Potato: Each day, Americans eat an Average of one serving of white potatoes; 3/4^th of a serving of citrus, berries or melon; ½ a serving of tomatoes; & only 1/5^th of a serving of deep – green Vegetables. We eat 5 times more white than green. For our health, we need to turn those portions around.

It is smart to choose colorful foods.

Extensive research shows that eating Fruits and Vegetables helps protect against cancer, heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, asthma, diabetes, cataracts, inflammatory disease and pulmonary troubles. The main reason: Pigments in Fruits and Vegetables contain phytochemicals, including antioxidants, that acts as cancer inhibitors, cholesterol regulators, anti – inflammatories and brain – cell protectors.

Each Fruit and Vegetable is a unique package, so you need to eat a variety to get the

Each fruit and Vegetable is a unique package, so you need to eat a variety to get the broadest spectrum of protection. For example, eat a grapes and blueberries to get purple. “Anthocyanins,” & tomatoes, & corn to get Red & Yellow “Caroteniods.” Different antioxidants protect different organs.

  The men & Woman who eat the most Fruits Vegetables are 20% less likely to have heart disease, according to recent research at Harvard. Adding Just one fruit or vegetable a day cuts heat disease risk by 4%.

  In recent Dutch study of male smokers, those who ate the most fruit were only ½ as likely to die of lung cancer as those who ate the least.

  Women who ate 2 ½ serving of Fruits & Vegetables daily were 65% less likely to have colorectal cancer than women who ate 1½ serving, according to Swedish research.

  Eating more fruits & Vegetables is more effective at combating excess weight than eating less high – fat /high – Sugar foods, according to recent research at the State University of New York, Buffalo.

  Woman who eat at least 5 daily servings of fruits & Vegetables reduce their risk of diabetes by 40% compared with women who don’t regularly eat them daily, according to a study by the federal Centers for disease Control and Prevention.

How to get the most

    Choose at least two servings a day from each food color group.

   Frozen fruits & Vegetables are as potent as fresh.

   Cooking tomatoes and carrots activates antioxidants.

   When possible, eat the colorful skins, the site of the most antioxidants.

   Always choose the brightest, deepest colors (for ex. pick broccoli that is blue - green, not yellowish).

   Ripe fruits % Vegetables contain the most antioxidants.

   Juices count. Orange juice in particular is linked to lower disease risk.

   Dried fruits, notably prunes (dried plums) & raisins have extremely high      concentrations of antioxidants.

   Be sure to indulge in deep – green vegetables; they’re the most neglected of all.