Colors on the plate

This week is the 26th annual ArtsWeek. It’s the perfect opportunity for you to make a colorful masterpiece on your dinner plate.

I can’t think of an easier way to have fun than dining on a home-cooked meal with your best friends. Enjoy the orange butternut squash you bought at the Winter Farmers Market, your favorite green vegetable and get drunk off that red, red wine. Not only is this fun, but the diversity of colors will make your body happy.

Different colored fruits and vegetables contain different kinds of vitamins and nutrients your body needs. For example, carotenoids are pigments that give color to many red, orange and yellow fruits and vegetables, including your butternut squash and Indiana corn. They are also found in many dark green vegetables.

Carotenoids are great for all kinds of reasons. In your body they can be converted to vitamin A, a molecule you need for color vision and vision in low-light conditions. Carotenoids also promote cell-to-cell communication and serve as antioxidants and anti-aging compounds that help prevent cancer and enhance immune system functioning.

Red wine and other red and purple foods contain a pigment known as anthocyanin. Anthocyanins have been shown to improve blood circulation and help liver function.

Orange and yellow fruits are extremely high in vitamin C. Vitamin C is a necessary compound for tissue growth and development. It is water-soluble, which means it leaves your body with your urine, so it is best to consume vitamin C many times throughout the day.

Of course, green is always good. Leafy green vegetables contain chemical compounds known as indoles that destroy carcinogens. Leafy green veggies are also high in vitamins A, C and K. Vitamin K is necessary for blood clotting.

Clearly, you have some great reasons to diversify your diet. I can’t speak for the man, but I bet author Michael Pollan would agree it is good to include many different colors in your diet. He is speaking on Friday at the IU Auditorium as part of the 2010 ArtsWeek celebration. Check him out for other insights on how to make your dining habits healthier and more sustainable.

For more on science and color, stop by Bloomington’s own nonprofit science museum, WonderLab. This month, WonderLab has an exhibition called “The Art and Science of Color,” where you can learn from artists about the physics, chemistry and psychology of color in art.

But if you do nothing else to celebrate ArtsWeek, make your plate your palette, and enjoy a deliciously nutritious and colorful meal that will make your body feel good.


E-mail: kslabosk@indiana.edu