“French fries and pizza contribute to the high consumption” That same USDA report also says things like this: Instead, most people prefer the common varieties. Regarding these top 7 categories, of course you can cook purple sweet potatoes, carrots, and even corn, but almost no one buys those vibrant varieties. When it comes to the most commonly consumed vegetables in the US, the data is a dietary disgrace. Number 2 on the list are apples, which have the reds but not the plum, periwinkle, violet, and indigo hues seen with other fruits. As you can guess from its yellow color, there are almost no anthocyanins inside. The most consumed fruit in America is the banana which is going extinct (Cavendish variety). Fruits and vegetables for these anthocyanin types are among of the least consumed in the Western diet. We may not fully understand the reds, blues, and purple colors found in plants, but these anthocyanins are good for you according to the research.īecause we don’t understand their absorption and how they metabolize in the human body, it’s why consuming diverse sources of them are important.Īmong the hundreds of different anthocyanin structures, we don’t yet know which ones are producing which benefits. What they break down into during digestion – the metabolites – appear to also have protective and antioxidant activity on their own.Some purple berries might be potent enough where only a small fraction of their anthocyanins are needed in the blood for biological effects to occur.Low levels detected in the blood after ingestion may be partly explained by higher levels found elsewhere in the body, especially the kidney (2 to 4x higher in animal organs measured).Not many water or fat soluble antioxidants can do that. They occur in hundreds of different structures and the bioavailability among them can vary greatly.While it is true they have low bioavailability, research during the current decade has supported their beneficial effects ( 3): Throughout the first decade of the new millennium, a number of “hit jobs” were published suggesting anthocyanins were of little benefit to human health, because less than 5% were believed to be absorbed. Aside from neutralizing free radicals (by donating one of their electrons) they are researched for numerous health benefits including anti-inflammatory, anti-viral, and even anti-cancer characteristics.Ĭheck out Plant Pigments and Their Manipulation for a scholarly understanding.īeing researched for something does not mean they are proven to be useful for a given disease or condition.Įven though they demonstrate significant antioxidant activity in plants and in the lab, it is not well understood what they do in the human body after digestion. Intense concentrations of anthocyanins can even appear black, such as the case with the black soybean’s seed coating. Depending on the pH of the plant, the shade of these flavonoids can range from bright red – as with red raspberries – to the dark blue skin of blueberries. ( 2)Īnthocyanins are responsible for producing the violet berries, fruits and vegetables. Anthocyanins are one group in particular which stand out for their antioxidant content. So far over 6,000 types of plant flavonoids have been identified. With the heirloom purple carrots – which are once again becoming popular – their pigment comes from anthocyanin content. With today’s common orange carrot, it is the beta-carotene (vitamin A precursor) and similar carotenoids which are responsible for producing its bright color. It is believed the Dutch cultivated these natural genetically modified crops and were able to breed them to produce the 100% orange variety we know today. A given plant would produce yellow, red, and orange varieties, but not all of one color.
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