Hue and Your Food

You can judge a food by its color  -- at least some fruits and vegetables. The color can tell you which vitamins and disease-fighting phytochemicals it contains, says David Heber, M.D., director of the UCLA Center for Human Nutrition and author of What Color Is Your Diet? The more hues you can include in your family's diet, the better. Make it fun for your child, and she may even want to eat her fruits and veggies: She can count up the colors in a salad before digging in. At the grocery store, send her on a scavenger hunt for each shade in the produce section. Or fix her a "rainbow" lunch.

Red/purple

(blueberries, cherries, grapes): antioxidants that help prevent heart disease

Green

(broccoli, cabbage, kale): cancer inhibitors called sulforaphane and indoles

Orange

(carrots, oranges, cantaloupes, sweet potatoes): beta-carotene and vitamin C

Yellow/green

(corn, spinach, peas, honeydew): folic acid and carotenoids that contribute to eye health

Red

(tomatoes, watermelon, pink grapefruit): vitamin C and the anticancer compound lycopene