No Secondlife Health Info Center

Food colors are composed of fruit and vegetables is very important for health. All the nutrients needed by the body’s immune system is so formed and able to ward off various diseases.

The nutrients the body needs can be met with a diverse diet. Because, no one single food that contains all the nutrients in sufficient quantities. The more variety of food consumed, the more complete the acquisition of nutrients to achieve optimal health.

Simply put, the amount of food consumed should be described as the food pyramid. Food pyramid is much referred to by various countries to achieve population health.

The bottom of the pyramid is composed of ingredients of food sources of carbohydrates (bread, rice, cereal, pasta, etc.) consumed the recommended servings per day of 6-11. The middle of the pyramid consists of 2-4 servings of fruits, 3-5 servings of vegetables, 2-3 servings of milk and other dairy products, as well as 2-3 servings of meat, poultry, fish, eggs, and nuts. While the top (tip) of the pyramid only consists of a little fat, oil, and sugar (sweetener).

From the pyramids apparent consumption of vegetables and fruits is very important to guarantee the population’s health. So the importance of vegetables and fruit, the World Health Organization (WHO) and nutrition experts in the United States recommends that we consume at least five servings of vegetables and fruits every day. A serving of fruit is equivalent to 150 grams, while one portion of vegetables equal 75 grams of raw vegetables.

Indonesia is still less
A survey conducted in 2004 revealed that only about 15 percent of the Indonesian population who consume vegetables and fruits more than five servings per day. So, as much as 85 percent of the population of Indonesia is less vegetables and fruits. This is really ironic because as a tropical country, Indonesia is a paradise of vegetables and fruits.

The low consumption of vegetables and fruits is unfortunate because the two commodities is a source of various vitamins, various minerals, dietary fiber (dietary fiber), as well as a variety of phytochemical compounds.

A lot of vitamins contained in vegetables and fruits namely vitamin C and vitamin B complex. Some vegetables and fruits is also a good source of vitamins A, D, and E with huge potential. Carotenoids (precursors of vitamin A), vitamin C and natural vitamin E is an antioxidant useful against free radicals, causing premature aging and various types of cancer.

A lot of minerals found in vegetables and fruits are iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), manganese (Mn), calcium (Ca) and phosphorus (P). Some of these minerals, such as Cu, Zn, and Mn, also an antioxidant mineral.

Compared with the source of dietary fiber (dietary fiber), other vegetables and fruits are good sources and most major. Dietary fiber is useful for preventing various degenerative diseases, such as colon cancer (colon cancer), divertikulosis, atherosclerosis, heart disorders, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and kidney stones.

Starting from the pattern vegetarian
One of the phrases that need to be cultivated in the daily diet is “let’s paint your plate with color!” The phrase can be translated as “eat a plate of colorful dishes.”

For optimal health, nutrition experts recommend a variety of colors of food consumption. The plate should look like a rainbow. Eating colorful fruits and vegetables five or more servings are an important part of healthy lifestyles.

Another phrase that also need to ponder, “Eat your colors Every day to stay healthy and fit”, which shows how important the colors of food consumption daily for reaching health and fitness.
Colorful food concept has long been introduced in Japan.

The development of Buddhism in Japan encourage people to live with a vegetarian-style diet. A diet that encourages the development of vegetable origin foods, as well as the emergence of the eating habits of vegetables and fruits.

In a Buddhist vegetarian lifestyle, Japanese society as it developed the concept of five colors and six main flavor in his food everyday. The five kinds of color is: GREEN, RED, YELLOW, WHITE, and PURPLE, while the sixth sense are: bitter, sour, sweet, spicy, salty, and savory. That culture is still left in modern Japanese society.

Buddha’s teachings that underlie why the food in Japan is generally presented with a solid-color match interesting, different taste, and presentation is very slick.

In the Japanese culinary arts, food is a way of presenting the most important thing, even more important than the taste of food itself. In the presentation, there are a harmonious combination of colors, shapes and textures.
Japanese people love the combination of certain colors in food. This, for example, can be seen in sanshoku buckwheat, which is a kind of noodle products with three colors (brown, white, and green) are presented in harmony in a tray.

Other foods that are presented in three colors: pikel (pickled vegetables) with a combination of purple (eggplant), white (daikon), and green (mustard). Sandwiches have generally sold with three different kinds of vegetable colors.

During the Indonesian people consider this green vegetables are the best for health. In the concept of colorful foods, we are encouraged to consume vegetables from different color, like green, blue, purple, red, yellow, white, and brown.

Colors were derived from the pigment, a phytochemical compounds found in various plants. These natural compounds not only protect the plants, but also protect humans from diseases like cancer, aging, heart disease, and vision problems.

Optimal protection, gugah appetite
Colored fruits and vegetables contain hundreds of phytochemicals, compounds which differ from each other. By eating foods from all groups of color, we’ll get optimum protection from diseases and other health disorders.

Phytochemical compounds work naturally with the method can not be copied by food supplements. According to Dr. Lorelei DiSogra of the National Cancer Institute, “By eating fruits and vegetables from each color group, we would benefit from a unique set of phytochemicals, vitamins, minerals, and fiber is important that each group contained in the color.”

National Cancer Institute recommends consumption of at least five food groups every day in color, namely red, white, blue or purple, yellow and green. Each color indicates the presence of certain phytochemical compounds are efficacious for preventing various diseases.

Colorful food is a concept that combines food serving a variety of food ingredients based on color. Color here is a natural color instead of synthetic dyes. God must have some purpose in creating food that is colorful.

Colorful plate of food is not only tempting, but also provide health benefits is overwhelming. Different color for each food show and nutrition content of different phytochemical compounds.

The more color variations and the food we consume, the more complete nutrients obtained. That is why, colorful foods are absolutely necessary.
Color can also indicate the flavor of a food ingredient. When the color of a food colors that deviate from generally applicable, the material they are determined not taste good.

Seeing the old red chili must show a sense of spiciness in the mouth, spicy flavor than the green chili. Red pepper extracts is identical with the spicy, but the red in tomato indicates that tomatoes must be fresh and juicy in the mouth feel. Seeing the bright colors of yellow bananas, imagine the sweetness.

Color in foods are also tempting. When we visited the restaurant in Padang, one of the attraction is the red chili that was almost there on all menus.

When visiting Sundanese restaurant, it is incomplete without raw greens (salad). When visiting a food Chinese restaurant, one of the favorites menu is a cap cay which is a combination of vegetables of various colors.
In the art of good food, color is an important factor that must be considered. Solid-match colors and nice restaurants are among the factors that will be selling food. Bad color combinations may damage the overall appetite.

Color pigments are identical with
Food color comes from a number of specific pigments. The most powerful pigment will give the dominant color. Pigments are chemical components contained in the food, which when illuminated by white light will give you the sensation of a particular color that can arrest the eyes.

Archaeologists estimate the pigment plays an important role in human life since 400 000 years before Christ. At that time, pigment is widely used by women as decoration materials to beautify themselves. In addition, the pigments are also widely used for painting.

Why pigments produce different color? It is due to chemical bonding capabilities for selecting pigments to absorb light waves and that should be reflected. A food that has the ability to reflect the color red, when illuminated by white, a color other than red will be absorbed. Meanwhile, the red color will be reflected to our eyes so that the material is shown in red.

The same thing will happen if the banana has a yellow reflective pigment or vegetables that have a green reflector pigment illuminated by white light.

White color has a very broad spectrum of colors so that when focused on the pigment, white light can be decomposed into a color that is absorbed and reflected color.