Purple foods like concord grapes, plums and sweet cherries are delicious, but what do they do for your health?
During Healthy Aging Month, we are covering topics that can help you live a long, healthy life. Our eBook “Healthy Aging: Planning to Live Your Best” goes into more detail on the physical, nutritional and financial sides of healthy aging.
Purple foods, as well as dark chocolate and certain spices, are rich in polyphenols—micronutrients that give foods their color and also have many effects on the body.
Some of the most exciting ways polyphenols can benefit your health are:
- Improving cardiovascular health by keeping blood vessels and arteries healthy and flexible. Blueberries (they’re often purple despite their name) in particular can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease by up to 15% when consumed daily.
- Slowing, delaying and even reversing prostate cancer.
- Protecting against developing type 2 diabetes.
- Slowing, delaying and preventing Alzheimer’s and other mental health conditions.
There are plenty of sources for polyphenols, giving you lots of ways to incorporate them into your diet (if you haven’t already). You might be surprised how many foods you’re already eating that contain them!
Sources:
http://heart.bmj.com/content/102/17/1371
https://bmcmedicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1741-7015-12-78
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5456324/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24614693
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3273617/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4626244/
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnut.2016.00031/full
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4380832/
