Eat by Color: A Simple Guide to Healthy Eating
AKA: a beautiful, delicious, intuitive, no-nonsense way to eat more nutrient-dense foods (no nutrition degree required)
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Eating by color is a simple, no-nonsense way to fill your plate with nutrient-dense foods that let your senses lead and your taste buds sing. Today, we explore how plant pigments reveal powerful compounds—and why it makes no sense to go through animals to get the nutrients that the animals get because the animals ate plants (or more accurately: feed laced with plant-based supplements).
I often say that if you want to eat ethically, make choices that reflect your compassion for animals. And if you want to eat healthfully, eat by color.
It really is that simple.
Whether you’re shopping or sitting down to a meal, let color be your guide. When you do, you’ll naturally be choosing the most nutrient-dense (and cruelty-free) foods out there: plants.
In fact, I feel so strongly about this that I wrote an entire cookbook to help guide people to eat by color; it’s called Color Me Vegan (now out of print, but you can still find used copies if you look around). The chapters are organized by the most concentrated color in the featured foods (red/pink, orange, yellow, green, blue/purple, brown/black, tan/white), with each one highlighting the health benefits and recipes built around those vibrant plant pigments.
And that’s what we’re going to talk about today—all the benefits of eating by color and the powerful nutrients found in each group.
The Power of Plant Pigments
The beautiful colors in plant foods aren’t just for show—though a plant-based spread is certainly pleasing to the eye. These vibrant hues come from more than 2,000 natural pigments, each packed with powerful nutrients that help protect against disease. In fact, research shows that one of the best ways to improve overall health is to eat an abundance of naturally colorful fruits and vegetables. In other words: eat by color.
The reason plant color matters so much for our health is because of the compounds that give plants their color in the first place. They’re called phytochemicals—or phytonutrients—and they originate in plants (as you can tell from the prefix phyto, meaning “plant”). Plants produce these powerful compounds to protect themselves from harm—whether from insects, animals, UV radiation, or even the stress of photosynthesis. And it turns out, these same compounds protect us, as well.
Phytochemicals have been linked to both the prevention and treatment of many of the leading causes of death, including cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and hypertension.
At the molecular level, different phytochemicals serve different roles: preventing cell damage, lowering cholesterol, slowing the replication of cancer cells, and even prompting those cells to self-destruct.
More broadly, they help strengthen the immune system, regulate blood sugar, reduce inflammation, and slow the aging process.
Pretty exciting stuff, right?
Seeing is Believing: Color as a Nutrient Guide
One of the most amazing things is that we don’t need a microscope to find these powerful compounds—just our eyes. The most concentrated phytochemicals are the ones we can actually see—their saturation is what gives plants their vivid color. That deep purple in blueberries and violets? Bright orange in carrots and marigolds? Rich red in tomatoes and roses? All thanks to phytochemicals. So, when we eat by color, we’re essentially eating by nutrient density.
Let’s take a look at just a few:
Beta carotene is one of many carotenoids—and the phytochemical responsible for the vibrant orange in carrots and yams, as well as marigold flowers (which are edible!). It’s a powerful antioxidant and a precursor to vitamin A, which is essential for healthy vision. In fact, vitamin A’s chemical name is retinol, named after the retina, the part of the eye that enables us to see. To increase beta carotene’s absorption, pair it with a source of healthy fat—like avocado, nuts, or olive oil.
Photo credit Louis Hansel Lycopene, another carotenoid, gives tomatoes their red hue and contributes to the pink tones in watermelon, grapefruit, papaya, and guava. Lycopene tends to concentrate in organs like the prostate and lungs and has shown promise in supporting cardiovascular health and protecting against certain cancers and degenerative eye conditions. Lycopene becomes more bioavailable when tomatoes are cooked—especially with a bit of fat—so think tomato sauce with olive oil.
Photo credit Thomas Martinsen Lutein, most visible in yellow foods like corn and yellow squash, also appears in golden-hued flowers like daffodils and sunflowers. The word comes from the Latin luteus, meaning “yellow.” It works alongside zeaxanthin to protect against age-related macular degeneration—the leading cause of vision loss in people over 50. Like beta carotene and lycopene, lutein is also fat-soluble, so eating it with a little fat—like nuts or seeds—can significantly boost absorption.
Anthocyanins are the deep blue and purple pigments found in foods like blueberries, blackberries, red cabbage—and in flowers like pansies, violas, and bluebells. These potent antioxidants help reduce inflammation and protect cells from oxidative stress.
Photo credit Tyke Jones Folate: The Green That Holds Every Color
Folate is a water-soluble B vitamin found especially in leafy greens. The word folate comes from the Latin folium, meaning “leaf”—the same root as foliage, folio, and exfoliate. So it makes sense that leaves are our richest source. And here’s the beautiful part: when you eat leafy greens, you’re not just getting green. Just like in autumn—when the green chlorophyll fades and reveals the reds, oranges, and yellows that were always there—the same is true in your salad bowl. Beneath the green of kale, spinach, romaine, arugula, and chard are powerful pigments and nutrients in every shade of health.
Photo credit Deborah Rainford
But it’s not just what we can see—it’s also what we can taste. Some of the most powerful phytochemicals in the plant kingdom are the ones that make our eyes water and our tongues tingle:
Allicin is what gives garlic its pungent aroma and bite. It forms when garlic is crushed or chopped, and it’s been shown to have antibacterial, antiviral, and heart-supportive properties. To maximize allicin’s benefits, let chopped or crushed garlic sit for 10 minutes before cooking.
Photo credit shraga kopstein Sulfur compounds in onions, leeks, and shallots provide that signature sharpness—and help lower blood pressure, reduce inflammation, and support detoxification.
Capsaicin, the heat in chili peppers, not only wakes up your palate but may boost metabolism and support pain relief.
Tannins, found in tea, grapes (and red wine), pomegranates, and even in the bark of certain trees, cause that astringent, mouth-drying sensation—and provide antioxidant and antimicrobial benefits.
Curcumin, the golden pigment in turmeric, brings warmth and earthiness to dishes—and is prized for its anti-inflammatory and healing properties. To increase its bioavailability, pair turmeric with black pepper.
Photo credit Tamanna Rumee
So yes—when you see color, when you smell, when you taste—you’re experiencing phytochemicals doing exactly what they were designed to do: protect the plant… and, it turns out, protect you, too.
The Color is in the Plants — Not the Animals!
I’ve seen countless so-called experts recommend consuming chicken’s eggs because the yolks are rich in lutein or eating salmon because its pink flesh reflects the presence of antioxidants. Let’s break this down.
Egg Yolks and Yellow Lutein
The millions of chickens bred and kept for their flesh and eggs are not eating plants. Just as calcium is added to dairy cows’ feed to make up for the fact that they’re not grazing on grass, lutein is added to chicken feed to deepen the yellow color of their egg yolks (and skin)—because consumers associate that color with “healthy” chickens. The irony, of course, is that plants are where the lutein resides in the first place. The only reason it’s in the yolk at all is because it was added to the chicken’s feed.
Salmon and Pink Astaxanthin
Similarly, people are often told to eat salmon for omega-3 fatty acids as well as antioxidants in their flesh, evidenced by their pink color. But, once again, those nutrients don’t originate in the animal—they come from plants!
Wild salmon get their omega-3s from eating algae, and their pink color from carotenoids—particularly astaxanthin—found in both algae and the krill who feed on it. (And yes, even the krill get their nutrients from plants.) But here’s the kicker: about 90% of the salmon consumed in the U.S. is farmed, and farmed salmon don’t eat algae. Their flesh is naturally gray. So to give them the color consumers expect, producers add synthetic dyes like canthaxanthin to their feed to make their flesh pink. They even use a color fan—like paint swatches—to choose the exact shade of pink they want the flesh to be. That ain’t nature.
Boiling Lobsters Make Them Red
Lobsters are another example. Lobsters are not red when alive—their shells range from blue and gray to greenish-brown. It’s only when they’re boiled alive that the carotenoid astaxanthin, previously bound to proteins in their shells, becomes unbound, revealing the bright red color we associate with them. The same is true for crabs. That red hue isn’t natural—it’s a byproduct of heat and death.
The bottom line is to skip the middle animal and get your antioxidants, phytochemicals, and essential vitamins straight from the source: plants. They provide fiber, folate, and a vibrant spectrum of disease-fighting compounds—without the saturated fat, cholesterol, or cruelty.
Fill your plate with plant-based color, and you can’t go wrong.
Complement Your Colorful Diet
Of course, a plant-based diet provides all the color, fiber, antioxidants, and the nutrients we need to thrive. Still, there are a few essential nutrients—like B12, D3, and iodine—that can be harder to consistently get from plants alone. That’s why I love Complement. I take Complement Essential as my daily multivitamin for B12, D3, iodine, zinc, and magnesium; Omega Complex for essential fats; and as part of my strength-training and muscle-building routine, I fuel up with their clean Organic Protein. With Complement and my colorful, nutrient-rich diet, I have everything I need to fuel my body, support my strength, and thrive so I can do my work in the world for animals — both human and non-human.
Give them a try and get 15% off everything you order, every time you order, using THIS LINK and the code: JOYFULVEGAN.
This is a very interesting read. Thank you. I want to look for your out of print cookbook that you mentioned.