SPRING has definitely sprung when it comes to fresh and delicious fruits and vegetables with this season a smorgasbord of colour and taste.
Fruit varieties include bananas, grapefruit, lemons and navel oranges which are great on their own or a welcome flavour to tropical dishes or even lemon squeezed over grilled fish.
When it comes to vegetables there is more than enough to fill a whole salad bowl quite happily with artichokes, asparagus, bean sprouts, beetroot, broccoli, cabbage, rhubarb, spinach, mushrooms and silverbeet just to name a few coming into season, especially in spring.
Nutritionist, food designer and author Honor Tremain said it was important to eat a wide variety of fresh fruits and vegies that contain different colours.
“The main reason for this is because the particular colours of each hold particular health benefits,” she said.
“For instance, anthocyanin is responsible for the purple colour in carrots, plums and other purple foods.
“But anthocyanin is also the antioxidant which has been discovered to trigger weight loss and boost heart and liver health.
“Lycopene is responsible for red shades of colour and is found in tomatoes.
“Lycopene is connected to lowering the risk of certain cancers such as skin, pancreatic and prostate.
“Varying textures are also of great value to your health as it encourages you to try different foods, but more importantly it can expose you to high-fibre foods, which are hugely important to feeding your good gut bacteria, and affect your entire health positively.”
As featured in “Living in Style for Bunderberg”
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