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Colour Your Diet
Purple grapes, blueberries, kiwi fruit, bananas, peaches and strawberries make an appetising fruit salad. A fruit salad is much more appealing with a full colour variation, than if it only has one or two colours. How important is it to have colourful meals? Is it just because it looks more interesting and pretty? Or is there a purpose to it?
In traditional medicine, the doctrine of signatures is followed. This means that different herbs and foods are classified for their healing properties according to their colour and shape. For example, yellow plants, such as dandelion, are known for their liver healing properties. This principle can also be used in our daily diet. I learnt from my mother, as a child, that a meal should always contain a variety of colour; this is a part of a balance diet. If we eat a diet which is lacking in some colour, such as green vegetables, then our diet will be out of balance and health problems relating to that colour will occur.
It is well known that different colours have different effects on us. Red and yellow are warming and stimulating. Turquoise, blue and violet are cooling and sedating. Green maintains balance and harmony. Our food can have a similar effect.
Each colour has its own energy vibration and will vibrate with different parts of the body. The colours represented by the chakras also represent the part of the body most affected by that particular colour. So each organ has its own colour that it relates to. When the colour is provided through the diet, it will energize the corresponding chakra, or energy centre, and provide positive vibration through the body's organs and glands in that area.
A rainbow diet will provide you with all the nutrients and vitamins you require. The nutrients provided in a food will relate to the requirements of the chakra the colour corresponds to. Each food will energize, cleanse and heal its corresponding chakra. The outer cover of the food usually represents the colour vibration it radiates to and the action it will have on us. Some foods have more than one colour vibration, for example a pink grapefruit radiates to both yellow energy from the skin and pink from the flesh. A Haas avocado radiates to both indigo and green.
It is best to include foods of all colours in our diet, but when our system is out of balance, we can concentrate more on certain colour foods. This will help to harmonize the body and bring it back to equilibrium.
Red foods help us to have plenty of energy and meet life's challenges. The assimilation of food and removal of toxins is enhanced. Red helps us to get in touch with our basic life-force energy and keeps us motivate and able to achieve our life's goals. It gives us courage, strength and a feeling of confidence. Depression can be lessened with extra red plant foods. As red is our base, it can help us to be more grounded. Red stimulates the adrenal glands giving us the ability to survive. Red is excellent for those suffering from anaemia, blood disorders or who are always cold. If you are run-down or extremely tired, re foods can be stimulating and energizing. Red fruits and vegetables can regenerate depleted energy, build up the immune system and help to clean out the retained toxins and bad vibrations.
Orange supplies us with plenty of energy and an alert mind. It enhances our immune system, also improving blood circulation and digestion. Orange is a warming colour and radiates joy. It helps to remove blocked emotions and enables us to express ourselves more, allowing us to enjoy stronger relationships. It is also linked to our sexuality and our sex organs. Oranges encourages us to be more sociable, outgoing, and optimistic. It is a creative colour as it opens up our minds to new things. Orange is a great tonic for both the physical and mental aspects of our lives, giving boosts to spleen and digestive and sexual organs. Anti-oxidants are high in orange foods; these help in destroying toxic cells and in the repair of some cellular damage.
Yellow is a happy colour; it surrounds us with warmth, laughter and joy. It brings to us a more positive outlook on life. Knowledge and wisdom come with gold and yellow, helping us to broaden our horizons. Yellow is related to the solar plexus, so it is important for the support of the nervous system. It is directly involved with our digestive process, especially the liver and intestines. It helps to promote the elimination of toxins and purifying the body. It is also important in the endocrine system. Yellow is supportive of the brain function as well,
stimulating the mind, so it is important to include this colour while studying. This colour can help alleviate skin conditions, especially through its liver support and purifying ability. It can be helpful when dealing with conditions of the nervous system, nervous exhaustion, constipation, indigestion, liver problems and diabetes.
Green brings peace, balance and harmony to our systems. It has a strong influence on the heart and blood pressure and helps to sooth nerves. The lungs are strengthened as green is the colour of breathing as represented by nature. Green brings us a feeling of newness and freedom of the soul and helps relieves stress and emotional problems. It helps reduce problems associated with tension such as headaches. As green relates to the heart, it is also beneficial for those with high blood pressure and as a prevention of heart disease. The digestive system can be calmed by the inclusion of green. Chlorophyll, which is at high levels in green leafy vegetables, is revitalizing and refreshing. It has a soothing and healing effect and helps to detoxify and cleanse our system. Some green vegetables (cruciferous in particular) are considered to decrease the risk of breast, stomach and colon cancers.
Blue is a peaceful colour. It is relaxing and calming, on all levels. Blue is particularly important at night-time, relaxing our mind and body in readiness for sleep. It is an important colour for insomniacs to focus on at bedtime. We can connect more with our intuition. Blue has an important link with the respiratory system, encouraging the uptake of oxygen, so it this colour is lacking, we may feel constantly fatigued. Throat problems can be alleviated with blue, as well as fevers, inflammations, spasms, stings, itchiness and headaches. Too much blue can be depressing, so it needs to be balanced with orange, its complimenting colour.
Indigo is related to the third eye, so it brings focus to our lives and allows us to see things more clearly. It helps bring about the human qualities of compassion, discretion and integrity. It is also calming and soothing. Indigo controls the pineal gland. The nervous, mental and psychic potential are affected. The sight and hearing are influenced by indigo. Indigo food can be used where there are disease of the eyes, ears and nose as well as the skin and lungs. Indigo has a lot of blue energy. Eating blue and violet foods will also increase indigo energy.
Violet has a significant relationship with our intuition and spirituality. Meditation and spiritual life can be enhanced with violet foods. It strengthens and supports the central nervous system and the brain. It is important for our mental health. Violet has an effect on the process controlling the pituitary and hypothalamus. Using violet will calm those suffering from high anxiety; it is soothing and relaxing. It is the most healing colour, particularly in relation to nervous and mental disorders and disease of the scalp.
Each colour has a complementary colour. When an emphasis needs to be place on a particular colour in your diet, it is recommended that you balance this with the complementary colour. Red is complementary to green. Blue is complementary to orange and violet is complementary to yellow.
As different colours have different effects on us, it can be seen that it be best to concentrate on certain colours at certain times. For example, at nighttime, blue with its relaxing, calming effects would e more beneficial than red with its stimulating and uplifting effects. The energizing and refreshing effects of greens and yellow are ideal for morning. Gold, orange and red will provide us with energy required for the afternoon. Violet, indigo and blue should be the emphasis for the evening, with their calming and relaxing influences.
Giving thought to the colour of our foods can be a fun and interesting way to stay healthy. Food will be more appealing to children and will contain all the essential nutrients that they (and you) need. Bringing balance back to your life is easier when you can base your food selection on certain colours until you feel "right". Surrounding ourselves with colours can be a healing experience, in whatever form we take it.
About the Author
Andrea Putting N.D., Naturopath, Writer and creator/owner of health sites including, http://www.puttingitright.com.au, http://www.naturopathsresourcefile.info, and http://www.naturalhealth4cats.info . Explore the world of Natural Medicine; take your health into your own hands. Know how to be healthy and stay healthy.
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