Eat Your Greens, Eat Your Reds

Don't you just love strawberries. Tomatoes are pretty tasty too. Something that both of these foods have in common is that they are both red. Which means that they are enriched with the phytochemicals lycopene and anthocyanin, and very good for you.

Phytochemicals are protective components that are naturally occurring and found in plants. The phytochemical lycopene is believed to help protect the body from different forms of cancer, such as cervix, colon, stomach, bladder and prostate cancer, and promote a healthy heart. Anthocyanin could be responsible for improving the heart's health as well. Red foods like red wine and apples contain anthocyanin and tomatoes that have been cooked are full of lycopene.

It is a good idea to try to include a lot red foods with your meals, such as by having lots of fresh tomatoes with your salads, and try to incorporate fresh strawberries with your snacks and desserts. That task won't be hard to do this summer.

The strawberry season just began in the state of California. Organic and fresh are the popular choice of strawberries and the state will be producing plenty. One farmers market, Henry's Farmers Market, in San Pedro is having their annual Strawberry Fest started March 21. They will feature many creative strawberry dishes, such as strawberry salsa, strawberry soup and strawberry bruschetta, for people to sample and of course there will be plenty of fresh strawberries for everyone to take home as well.

In Florida Carl Grooms, the manager of Fancy Farms, has 250 strawberry pickers during this part of the high season for the 180 acres of strawberries they have. Among the strawberries that Grooms grows there are "Strawberry Festivals" and "Treasures" and both are said to be very yummy. Not all farmers are growing strawberries as traditionally as Grooms. Gary Parke's business, Parkesdale Farm in Plant City, started growing their strawberries in nutrient-rich water hydroponically, hydroponic plants are grown vertically, about two years ago and they grow all year long. Parkesdale offers U-Pick so people can have a change to sample the strawberries and select the one that they want to purchase.

Other foods that are red and delicious are beets, blood oranges, cherries, cranberries, raspberries, pomegranates, red grapes, red onions, red potatoes and watermelon to name a few. It is still very important to eat your greens but don't forget to add a splash of red to your food palette.