DeWalt: Decorate your plate with red and green foods

When it comes to holiday decorations, I like the classic combination of red and green, and it occurred to me that those also are great colors to focus on if you are trying to eat healthier.

I’ll start with the greenery. Dark green leafy vegetables might just be the healthiest food on earth, and we should try to include them in our diet on a daily basis. Besides being very light in calories (e.g., there are fewer than 20 calories in two cups of baby spinach), they are full of fiber, vitamins and minerals.

One of the most beneficial aspects of consuming greens is that they create nitric oxide as they are chewed. Nitric oxide is a gas that acts as a vasodilater. That means it keeps the walls of your blood vessels healthy and flexible, allowing them to expand and contract more easily. This helps with your blood pressure and helps to resist the formation of cholesterol plaques.

Choose dark leafy greens such as spinach, collard greens, swiss chard, broccoli, romaine lettuce, turnip greens, arugula, kale, bok choy and Brussels sprouts, and try to eat a variety.

You gain an added benefit with leafy vegetables that also are cruciferous (kale, arugula, Brussels sprouts) because they contain cancer-fighting chemicals.

A daily salad is a great way to get your greens, or you can add a side of broccoli or Brussels sprouts to any meal. I also like to add baby spinach to smoothies, mashed potatoes and spaghetti sauce.

On the red side of the equation, it’s the berries that move to the top of the list. Like the greens, they are light in calories and high in fiber. The dark red (or purple or blue) color of berries indicates the presence of anthocyanins, a family of pigments that have proven health benefits.

Anthocyanins are cell protective and antimicrobial and improve visual and neurological health.

At this time of the year, cranberries are a natural, but the highest concentration of these chemicals may be found in the darkest berries such as blueberries and blackberries.

Although we don’t think of them as berries, cherries and grapes contain these compounds as well.

Other red/purple foods that contain anthocyanins include red cabbage and purple potatoes.

Whether fresh or frozen, it’s easy to eat berries in some way every day. Add them to oatmeal or cereal, toss them in salads or eat a handful as a snack.

If you’d like a recipe for a sugar-free cherry/cranberry sauce, head to the CGH website, cghmc.com, and look for the What’s Cooking videos on our YouTube channel.

I hope I’ve inspired you to include healthy green and red foods in your diet. They are truly the gift that keeps on giving in terms of your health.

Sherry DeWalt is the healthy lifestyles coordinator for the CGH Health Foundation in Sterling.