Red, purple or even orange food plants are good for you and contain anti-oxidants which are said to stop premature ageing.
Some juices contain cranberry, blueberry, elderberry and apple – no artificial colours, and definitely better for you than fizzy drinks.
Berries, particularly red ones, are excellent foods:
These include:
Cranberries
Raspberries
Strawberries
Blueberries
Currants
Cherries
Pomegranates
Persimmons
Red grapefruit
Red onions, capsicums and beetroot are all good foods.
New research also claims that red lettuces – including the radiccio which is a bit bitter for kids – are extremely healthy foods. The best red lettuces are those grown out in the light. Ultra violet B light colours them up red and they are wonderful. Greenhouse grown lettuces, while still a fine food, are not as good.
Herbs are also very healthy plant foods:
Garlic is an anti-viral which, if taken regularly, could mean you will catch less colds. But it’s important to know that if it doesn’t stink and isn’t fresh it doesn’t work. So go for freshly grown garlic.
Tumeric is another healthy herb. Tumeric products are fine as in the yellow powder made from Tumeric roots. There are research claims that it slows down mental decline and dementia if eaten regularly. There are also claims that gingko may help memory loss.
Aloe vera is great for burns. Break bits off and squeeze the mucilaginous material onto the burns and wounds. It has been used for thousands of years and science says it really does help wounds heal.
At present scientists are arguing over the value of probiotics but it seems that they are going to be particularly important in the future.
An excellent reference book about various herbs is a scientific one called The Honest Herbal.
It is written by Dr. Varro Tyler of Purdue University School of Pharmacy & Pharmacal Sciences. ISBN: 1-56024-287-6.
This book largely involves the chemistry of various herbs.
It may be hard to get. If your book shop can’t order it for you, you could purchase online from Amazon.com. If you do go that way you have to pay in US $ and you have to pay postage both of which will make the book quite expensive.
