Cuisine & Culture/Oct. 2006
A prelude to the color of food and its bearing on our health…
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Life is colorful. For the sake of our own health and that of our loved ones so that we
may enjoy our colorful lives we need colorful food everyday. Every food item comes
covered in its unique color which bears close tie to our health. With its mission to
help us eat well and eat healthy Cuisine & Culture presents in this issue a prelude
to the color of food and the significance of the color of food which offers itself on our
dining tables.
In addition to its four attributes of hot, warm, cold, cool and five flavors of sour,
bitter, sweet, spicy, salty, food commands five colors as well, namely, green, red,
yellow, white, and black with each color category tasked to respectively nourish our
internal organs, i.e. green v. liver, red v. heart, yellow v. spleen, white v. lungs, and
black v. kidneys.
Cancer, heart failure, diabetes, and other serious ailments are not unavoidable diseases
that come into being to a large extent thanks to our life style and diet habit. Abundant
daily intake of colorful fruits and vegetables can effectively prevent the above from
happening while keeping us fit. Colorful fresh food categories therefore function as
our health protectors.
Colleagues and friends, had you ignored the importance of food and the
significance of food color vis a vis our health in the past it’s time we started anew
now. Let’s understand the medicinal attributes of food and the unique strength
of food color. Let’s establish a healthy diet habit with a view to enjoying a
healthy life.
In the upcoming issues recipes of a series of colorful and delicious specialties will
be presented. For now please enjoy A prelude to the color of food and its
bearing on our health…
The strength of food color
Isn’t this plateful whetting your appetite? The answer probably is yes. Why? It’s the
color! The strength of color of the food easily rivals that of flavor and smell.
Green colored food
Traditionally, green plants have been recognized for their therapeutic effects pointing
to the strength of the color of green in regulating human body functions. Regular
consumption of green colored fruits and vegetables, which are highly fibrous, helps
liver and gallbladder in ejecting toxin and waste from human bodies, greatly reducing
the risk of intestine and stomach cancers. Green colored fruits and vegetables also
work to prevent high blood pressure and help to minimize the adverse effect of
insomnia and that of ultraviolet ray. Other benefits of regular intake of green colored
fruits and vegetables are too numerous to be illustrated here. Let’s end this section
with a question. Do you eat enough green colored fruits and vegetables?
Red
colored
food
Red color reminds us of fire and of blood as well that flows through the heart. The
color of red also connotes heat and warmth. Those of us off color with cold feet on a
regular basis need to look to red colored food items for nourishment and invigoration.
Among red colored categories of food most common are tomato, red pepper, radish,
sweet potato, etc. Red skinned vegetables are eye catching and palate exciting and
therefore appetite whetting. They are rich in Carotene B and together with other red
pigment they contain they invigorate disease resistant cells in human bodies, thereby
effectively countering cold and protecting the heart.
Yellow colored food
Like earth that is mother to everything including life, stomach and spleen function as
nutrition providers to human bodies. With stomach and spleen well in harmony
human bodies enjoy normal metabolism. Common yellow colored food items count in
this category carrot, corn, lemon, pumpkin, soybean, yellow chives, banana, orange,
grape fruit, etc, which are rich in Vitamin A, C and D.
Vitamin A works to protect stomach and intestine membrane and effectively deters
gastritis and gastric ulcer, keeping stomach and intestine cancers at bay. Vitamin C is
well known as a disease fighter, often acting to neutralize carcinogenic substance.
Vitamin D helps absorb calcium and phosphorous, strengthening bones and muscles
as a result.
Black colored food
Credited as kidney guardians, black colored food items, which include black sesame,
black fungus, black beans, black rice, black mushrooms, black dates, black boned
chicken, black sea cucumber, laver, seaweed, rye, etc, help kidneys function
effectively in harnessing water circulation within human bodies. Almost devoid of any
harmful substance because they are gifts of the nature and highly nutritious as a result
black colored food items drastically reduce the risk of arteriosclerosis, coronary heart
disease, and stroke.
Regular consumption of the black colored food items whose advantages are by no
means limited to the above helps prevent aging, fight disease, nourish hair and
smoothen skin, invigorate blood generation, increase blood protein content, facilitate
internal secretion, and regulate overall physiological functions.
White colored food
Our daily staple, rice, heads the list of white colored food items including bean curd,
cheese, milk, apricot kernel, bamboo shoot, garlic, lily, turnip, white gourd, white
fungus, etc, which boast of rich sources of protein and calcium, not to mention the
fact that rice figures prominently as a major part of the basis of the diet pyramid.
Together with other color categories white colored food items pride themselves as
anti-oxidant agents, working to reinforce immunity system while protecting the heart.
Garlic in particular stands out as a disease fighter, germ terminator, and cancer
deterrent, all the while working to reduce blood fat and preventing coronary heard
disease.
Colleagues and friends, please stay tuned for delicious color specialties in the
upcoming issues.
From the Editor:
Cuisine & Culture sources its materials online through a variety of sites and channels,
which, for reason of simplicity, are omitted but can be provided upon request. Certain
materials come in languages other than English that Cuisine &Culture renders into
English to the best of its ability. Cuisine & Culture is not in a position to verify the
accuracy of the materials obtained online and provided herein. Reader’s discretion is
kindly advised.
A Special Acknowledgement of Thanks from Cuisine & Culture
Cuisine & Culture wishes to express its heartfelt thanks to Kevin Wambura of the ITS
team here in Nairobi and Yawtsong Lee, a veteran interpreter in New York for their
technical advice and assistance and is hereby extremely pleased to retain them as
Technical Advisors to Cuisine & Culture.
Cuisine & Culture
Weihua Tang/Editor
UNON/DCS
Ext.1024/Rm.CW205