Try Healthy Yellow and Orange Foods

Yellow and Orange Foods

Yellow Foods: Apricots, Bananas, Corn, Garbanzo Beans, Golden Apples, Golden Flax Seed, Golden Raisins, Grapefruit, Honey, Lemon, Lemongrass, Pears, Pineapple, Saffron, Spaghetti Squash, Squash Blossoms, Sweet Corn, Yellow Beans, Yellow Lentils, Yellow Peppers, Yellow Summer Squash, Yellow Wax Beans

Orange Foods: Butternut Squash, Cantaloupe, Carrots, Cheddar Cheese, Citrus Fruits, Clementine, Creamsicle, Mandarin Oranges, Mangoes, Nectarines, Orange Jello, Orange Peppers, Orange Tomatoes, Oranges, Papaya, Peaches, Pumpkin, Rutabagas, Salmon, Sweet Potatoes, Tangerines, Whole Grains, Yams

Do you know any other Yellow or Orange foods?

About Yellow and Orange Foods

Most orange and yellow fruits and vegetables contain antioxidants, such as vitamin C and the phytonutrients carotenoids and bioflavonoids. The foods are also rich in fiber and many vitamins and minerals.

Carotenoids give fruits and vegetables their color and are converted into vitamin A in the body. Vitamin A is needed for vision, new cell growth, healthy skin and tissues, and night vision. Carrots and sweet potatoes are rich in beta carotene.

Citrus fruits, mangoes, nectarines, peaches, peppers, and sweet corn contain beta cryptoxanthin, a carotenoid that may help maintain the respiratory tract and reduce the risk of lung cancer. Hesperidin is a bioflavonoid found in citrus fruits and juices and may lower the risk of heart disease.

Vitamin C is in citrus fruits and helps maintain healthy teeth and gums; improves circulation; enhances iron absorption and helps resist infection.

Salmon is a great source of omega 3 fatty acids and may help reduce the risk of heart disease.

Yellow lentils are high in fiber, folate, and other B vitamins. Fiber helps prevent constipation. Folate is important in producing healthy red blood cells, preventing birth defects, and reducing the risk of strokes, heart disease, and some cancers.

Recipe

Sunshine Salad with Yellow Squash, Orange and Tomato 

Ways to Increase Yellow and Orange Food Intake:
• Add apricot, bananas, oranges, peaches, and/or papaya to cereals or salads. They will bright up your morning.
• For snacks or food on the go, choose any of the rich yellow and orange fruits and vegetables, for example, apricots, bananas, golden apples, golden raisins, pears, pineapple, carrots, oranges, mangoes, nectarines, papaya, peaches and/or tangerines.
• Add carrots and/or diced peppers (yellow or orange) to salads or main courses.
• Use sweet potatoes instead of white potatoes for a change in color
• Eat grilled salmon at least once a week.
• Prepare a butternut squash soup.

Wellness News employs young adults with "Special Needs" (Cerebral Palsy, Autism, Down Syndrome, Muscular Dystrophy). My staff started the project in September 2010. Over the next five months, we would take over 600 photographs of colorful foods in order to create the March presentation for NNM. Many of the photographs are available for purchase with the proceeds going to special needs young adults. Contact Dr. Sandra Frank for additional information (recipenews@gmail.com).

Prepared by
Sandra Frank, Ed.D, RD, LDN, FAND
Jake Frank
Jonathan Cruz