What Color is Your Smoothie? by Britt Allen Brandon

Author:Britt Allen Brandon
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9781440536274
Publisher: F+W Media, Inc.
Published: 2012-02-13T21:00:00+00:00

If you’re eating—and drinking—orange, you know that, above anything else, you’re getting your daily dose of vitamin C. This powerful vitamin is well-known for strengthening the immune system, but the most recent attribute credited to the selection of fruits and veggies rich in vitamin C is their powerful ability to act as antiviral, anti-inflammatory, and anti-bacterial agents. Creating this dual task force designed to fend off illnesses and diseases from the common cold to certain types of cancers, the vitamin C found in these fruits and vegetables is supported and strengthened by the additional vitamin and mineral content also present in these powerful foods.

Consuming the orange spectrum of the rainbow also provides you with the wide variety of vitamins, minerals, and powerful phytochemicals that pack each and every delicious bit of orange produce. With impressive amounts of vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B9, E, and K, orange fruits and vegetables offer up health benefits that promote immunity. They also affect the utilization of carbohydrates and the subsequent production of energy, the production and regulation of healthy red blood cells and important hormones, metabolism maintenance, muscle strength, and teeth and bone strength. On top of all those benefits, they even protect cells against free radical damage, and they improve the quality of hair, skin, and nails.

The important minerals calcium, copper, manganese, potassium, selenium, and zinc, which are also found in these foods, lend support to the body’s overall functioning by promoting nerve cell communication and functioning, and by sustaining the vitamins’ roles in optimizing the production and maintenance of red blood cells, hormones, bone and muscle tissue, the metabolism, the digestive system, and the immune system.

In addition to reaping the benefits of these vitamins and minerals, you’ll also find that orange foods are packed full of the powerful phytochemicals flavanones and carotenes that give this produce its color. While encouraging healthy functioning of the eyes, the brain, cell production, cell growth, and the much-needed optimizing of the immune system, these phytochemicals also play a major role in preventing free radical damage that can lead to various cancers, inflammation that can lead to cardiovascular disease and arthritis, and blood conditions that can raise your cholesterol levels.

But keep this in mind: To benefit from all of the intense nutrition packed into the vibrantly colored orange selection of produce, you have to eat (or drink!) them in as close to their natural state as possible. While drinking orange juice is a great way to get vitamin C, the better alternative is to eat (or sip!) an actual orange. Not only are the whole fruit versions of juices and dried varieties less likely to have additional sugars and preservatives added to them in the manufacturing process, but the whole fruit also contains loads of fiber that is absolutely necessary if you want your digestive system to function well. So, when it comes to sipping the orange part of the rainbow, try to remember that “Nature’s Way Is the Best Way”—which shouldn’t be a problem once you try the delicious smoothies in this chapter.

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