Hello friends! Who is ready to chat about beta carotene today? In the second of my Color Me Healthful series we are going to tackle orange and yellow fruits and veggies. These are some of the most abundant in nature, and some of the tastiest, too. Many of us have no problem eating from this color group. But as with all the groups we’ll discuss, it is important to understand why they are important.
Just as a reminder, the Color Me Healthful system categorizes fruits and veggies based on color. And it should be stated, the color of the part you are actually consuming. In other words, bananas could fall under the yellow category; however, we don’t eat the peels. We eat the interiors, which are actually white. It doesn’t matter if your produce of choice is canned or frozen, it still falls under its normal color group. For some products, being canned or frozen actually increases the availability of some of the nutrients (i.e. lycopene from tomatoes is more available after canning).
So, as I mentioned, orange and yellow fruits and veggies are some of the most easily found in nature. Common fruits like apricots, peaches, pineapple, and you know, oranges are favorites and veggies are well represented, too. Carrots, sweet potatoes, yellow and orange bell peppers, and corn are all yummy and easy to come by.
Beta carotene is the compound that is responsible for giving these produce items their color. Beta carotene is a precursor to Vitamin A. During digestion, our bodies are primed to start the conversion process from beta carotene into Vitamin A. Because most of us enjoy the orange and yellow produce varieties, it is relatively easy to meet our Vitamin A needs without supplementation. Once our bodies have completed the conversion process, Vitamin A is then stored in our fat cells until we need it.
Beta carotene and Vitamin A serve many important functions. I’m sure most of us remember the rumors that eating carrots can help our vision. Well, it appears that it may be true. Vitamin A is known to help protect our eyes from age related declines. Vitamin A also seems to be a key player in bone health. Calcium and Vitamin D usually get all the cred there, but without Vitamin A, we may be at increased risk for fractures.
Along the same lines, Vitamin A helps support healthy growth period. Even after we reach our adult sizes, our cells are in a constant state of turnover, with older ones being replaced by new ones all the time. We need Vitamin A to help run the show. And this makes Vitamin A especially important for growing kids and pregnancy.
Healthy cell growth and renewal also has important cancer implications. Since cancer is basically a group of cells that has decided to go rogue, Vitamin A may play an important role in reducing the risks of certain types of cancers. And more basic than cancer, Vitamin A helps our immune system stay strong to fight off the run of the mill infections, too.
I’m sure you are getting the gist that orange and yellow fruits and vegetables are important. And I haven’t even hit you with the other compounds commonly found in these nutritional powerhouses. The orange and yellow colored produce family is also known for containing potassium, folate, and fiber.
Potassium is an electrolyte. Another one of those nutrition words we know but don’t know. An electrolyte is a mineral that carries an electrical charge in water. Potassium is critical to the way our nervous and muscular systems function. Without potassium, our brains are unable to communicate properly with our bodies (and vice versa). Potassium affects how the neurons in our bodies conduct information. Potassium is also critically important to muscle contractions. Try strength training without that!
Folate is another name for folic acid, which is one of the B-complex vitamins. The B vitamins, much like Vitamin C, are water soluble, meaning we pee out the extra instead of storing it like the fat soluble vitamins. Folate is involved in replicating DNA, which is necessary for proper growth and cell repair. Folate is also involved in making both red and white blood cells and converting carbohydrates into usable energy for our bodies. Basically, folate helps our immune systems, helps us grow, and keeps us running in between.
And, last but certainly not least, fiber. Fiber plays many a role in proper digestion. And if you have done any sort of health-related search in the last year or two, I can guarantee you have come across the phrase, “gut health,” or possibly, “microbiome.” Yeah, super fancy ways of telling you to eat your fiber. Fiber binds LDL cholesterol and helps excrete it from the body. It feeds those little bacterias in your intestinal tract and keeps them happy. And it keeps things moving, which is gross, but important.
So, yeah. Nature certainly knew what she was doing when she created orange and yellow plants. All those nutritional superstars and in tasty little packages too! Next time we’ll be chatting about the white color group. And before you jump all over my case because white is technically not a color, I will remind you that it is actually ALL the colors.
Until next time, be well friends!
