{"id":44714,"date":"2011-03-20T01:00:44","date_gmt":"2011-03-20T06:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/?p=44714"},"modified":"2012-02-29T17:05:35","modified_gmt":"2012-02-29T22:05:35","slug":"eat-right-with-color-blue-and-purple-fruits-and-veggies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/03\/eat-right-with-color-blue-and-purple-fruits-and-veggies\/","title":{"rendered":"Eat Right With Color: Blue and Purple Fruits and Veggies"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em><a title=\"Eat Right With Color: Blue and Purple Fruits and Veggies\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/03\/eat-right-with-color-blue-and-purple-fruits-and-veggies\/\" target=\"_self\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-44716\" title=\"purple nails\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/purple-nails.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"250\" height=\"238\" \/><\/a>Jane Schwartz Harrison is a registered dietitian and lifestyle writer for <a title=\"MyOptumHealth\" href=\"http:\/\/www.myoptumhealth.com\/portal\/\" target=\"_self\">www.myOptumHealth.com<\/a>. She is also the editor of their Nutrition and Healthy Weight, Healthy Kids hubs, and provides nutrition expertise through writing articles, developing menu plans and recipes, and supporting a nutrition column. Working in the nutrition field for the past 20 years, Jane has maintained a successful private practice and lectures regionally. <\/em><\/p>\n<p>Feeling blue? In nutrition circles, this would be considered a good thing! Blue and purple fruits and veggies are colored by natural plant pigments called &#8220;anthocyanins.&#8221; Anthocyanins, part of the flavonoid family, are powerful <strong><a title=\"antioxidants\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dietsinreview.com\/videos\/how-to-get-more-antioxidants-into-your-diet\/\" target=\"_self\">antioxidants<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>A recent survey found that adults who eat purple and blue fruits and vegetables have reduced risk for both high blood pressure and low HDL cholesterol (the \u201cgood\u201d kind); they are also less likely to be overweight.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Other health benefits include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Reducing the risk of cancer, and slowing down the first stages of cancer development<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Reducing risk of stroke and heart disease<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Improved memory and healthy aging<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Currently, purple and blue foods make up only 3 percent of the average American\u2019s fruit and vegetable intake. To up your quota, try some of these tasty suggestions:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Blackberries and blueberries<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Mix into yogurt, cereal or pancake batter<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Toss on top of <strong><a title=\"blueberry pancakes recipe\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dietsinreview.com\/recipes\/better-blueberry-pancakes\/\" target=\"_self\">cooked pancakes<\/a><\/strong> or waffles<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Use frozen berries for fruit smoothies<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Add to cobblers or muffins<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Plums<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Add plum slices to cold cereal<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Dice and toss into a fruit salad<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Poach in red wine and serve with lemon zest<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Prunes<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Eat plain as a delicious snack<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Add to oatmeal<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Dice and add them to muffins or quick bread<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Purple grapes<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Munch on fresh<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Freeze for a delicious cool treat<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Dice and add to salads<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Raisins<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Sprinkle on salad<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Add to whole grain muffins<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Toss into cold or hot cereal<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Add to <strong><a title=\"trail mix\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dietsinreview.com\/recipes\/sweet-and-nutty-trail-mix\/\" target=\"_self\">trail mix<\/a><\/strong> along with nuts and seeds<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Purple cabbage<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Shred and add to salads or soups<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Saut\u00e9 <strong><a title=\"Sweet Saute of Purple Cabbage and Onion recipe\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dietsinreview.com\/recipes\/sweet-saute-of-purple-cabbage-and-onion\/\" target=\"_self\">shredded cabbage with onions<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Eggplant<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Brush with olive oil and a dash of salt, and grill<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Cut into rounds, layer with low-fat cheese and tomato sauce, and bake<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Make ratattouie<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Saut\u00e9 with mushrooms and zucchini and add to tomato sauce<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Purple potatoes<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Use to make colorful potato salad<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Dice and add to soups<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Slice thin and saut\u00e9 in olive oil with onions and garlic<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>___________________________________________________<\/p>\n<p><em>Guest Blog Series: Look for the following badge on your favorite health sites to see if they have been a featured guest blogger on <a title=\"diet reviews\" href=\"..\/..\/\" target=\"_blank\">DietsInReview.com<\/a>. See other posts in the <a title=\"diet blog\" href=\"..\/tag\/guest-blog\/\" target=\"_self\">Guest Blog series<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"..\/tag\/guest-blog\/\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/images\/diet-weight-loss-blogger.gif\" alt=\"Diets in Review - Weight Loss and Diet Blog\" width=\"120\" height=\"60\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>If you would like to apply to be featured as a guest blogger, please <a title=\"guest blog\" href=\"mailto:help@dietsinreview.com?subject=guest%20blogger%20application\" target=\"_blank\">contact us<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jane Schwartz Harrison is a registered dietitian and lifestyle writer for www.myOptumHealth.com. She is also the editor of their Nutrition and Healthy Weight, Healthy Kids hubs, and provides nutrition expertise through writing articles, developing menu plans and recipes, and supporting &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/03\/eat-right-with-color-blue-and-purple-fruits-and-veggies\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3695],"tags":[1447,4080,3044,3266,23,7926,7852,1792,1791,892],"class_list":["post-44714","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-diet-and-nutrition","tag-blueberries","tag-cabbage","tag-eggplant","tag-grapes","tag-guest-blog","tag-jane-schwartz-harrison","tag-national-nutrition-month-2011","tag-plums","tag-prunes","tag-raisins"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44714","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44714"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44714\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44718,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44714\/revisions\/44718"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44714"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44714"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44714"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}