Good Mood Red Foods

How many red and purple vegetables and fruits do you eat each day?
Loaded with powerful nutrients, they can improve brain function, promote heart health, and help protect your cells from cancer. Their beautiful purple or red color come from anthocyanins . Anthocyanins are compounds in flavonoid family of phytochemicals (natural chemical compounds in plants). These nutrients help your brain in several ways: .

Reduce inflammation
Enhance blood flow
Boost cognitive fitness
Improve mental health
Protect your brain against neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s

Red foods also contain another phytochemical called lycopene is linked to improved cognition and memory. They reduce inflammation and oxidative stress in the brain. Adding fats from nature — like avocado, extra-virgin olive oil or grass-fed butter — significantly increases your body’s ability to absorb these nutrients

Check out the possibilities! Which new options will you explore? It could be a new vegetable. Or something familiar in a different way. I roasted dover sole with purple grapes for a quick weeknight dinner.

Beets
Blueberries
Blackberries
Cranberries
Eggplant
Grapefruit
Pomegranate
Purple grapes
Purple potatoes
Radicchio
Rainbow chard
Raspberries
Red apples, pears, grapes, and potatoes
Red beans
Red bell peppers and chilies
Red cabbage
Red onions
Strawberries
Tomatoes
Watermelon

Think fresh and seasonal

Add grapefruit to leafy green salads

Shred red cabbage and/or rainbow chard to use in salads, grain bowls, add to stir-fry and even roasted veggies

Beets, red apples and pears, bell peppers and chilies — Eat them raw, shredded, roasted, or steamed and pureed
Make babaganoush with the eggplant and use on sandwiches and wraps instead of mayo; enjoy it on rice cakes and seed crackers for an afternoon snack

Use your pantry

Add sun-dried tomatoes or roasted bell pepper (jar) breakfast eggs, roasted veggies, cooked grains, and salads
Add (canned) red beans to rice and grains, toss into salads, make into bean dips for wraps and breakfast toast topped with pumpkin/sunflower seeds

Use your freezer

Add berries to oatmeal and chia puddings, pancakes, and muffins; defrost and puree them to mix into Greek yogurt or as pancakes and waffle toppings
Roast and puree beets; freeze in 8 oz mason jars to use in overnight oats, blender pancakes, brownies

For More Empowerment
10 Powerful Purple Vegetables You Should Be Eating and Why – Food Revolution Network

What are anthocyanins and why are purple foods so healthy? BBC Good Food

6 Health Benefits Of Lycopene & Sources Of The Antioxidant – Mind Body Green