THIS HOLI, SAVOUR THE SEVEN COLOURS OF FITNESS

The festival of colours is about to shower hues of joy into our lives. This is the perfect time to appreciate the importance of colours in our lives and their close connection to our wellness. Let’s find out more about how colours can help us improve our holistic health.

Colours carry and convey their own energies. Everyone knows that white, blue and green somehow soothe the mind. Pink feels gentle and affectionate. Orange is a mood lifter and an appetite booster. Red carries passion and strength in it. There is a reason that individual colours have the kind of impact they do.

COLOURS & CHAKRAS

As per Yoga and Ayurveda, our body has chakras (rotating energy centres) along its median line. These chakras vibrate with particular frequencies and have corresponding colours. It is said that when all the chakras are in balance, physical, mental and emotional aspects of health are also in a state of wellness. Wearing clothes, meditating on, and eating foods in chakra colours can thus restore balance and good health.

Before we know more about this, here is a look at our key chakras and their corresponding colours, glands, and healthy foods in that colour:

 

Chakra	Location	Colour	Focus	Food	Endocrine Gland
1.      Base (Mooladhar)	Base of spine	Red	Grounding, Safety, Survival	Strawberries, cherries, radishes, beets tomatoes, peppers, watermelon	Adrenal
2.      Sacral (Swadhisthan)	Below the navel	Orange	Sexuality, Creativity	Oranges, carrots, apricots, pumpkin	Gonads
3.      Solar Plexus (Manipurak)	Between the lower chest and the navel	Yellow	Intellect, Power, Self-esteem, Will power	Banana, lemon, corn, grapefruit, mango, pineapple	Pancreas
4.      Heart  (Anahat)	The mid-chest heart area	Green	Love, Compassion, Integration	Apple, pear, cucumber, spinach, kale, greens, broccoli, cabbage, celery, grapes	Thymus
5.      Throat (Vishuddhi)	The throat area	Blue	Communication Trust Self-Expression	Blueberries and blackberries coconut, apples, pears, oranges, peaches, apricots and plums	Thyroid
6.      Third Eye (Agya)	On forehead, between the eyebrows	Indigo	Intuition, Truth, Wisdom	Blueberries, purple grapes, black currant, purple cabbage, purple potatoes	Pituitary
7.      Crown (Sahastrar)	Top of head	Violet	Divinity, Spirituality, Consciousness	carrots, mango, oranges, orange peppers, peaches, apricots, sweet potatoes and Foods  Omega-3 rich foods.	Pineal

 

How do Colours Heal?

Chakras correspond to key glands secreting vital hormones in the body (also called the endocrine system). Each chakra is linked to a key gland and hormonal secretions essential to the body’s functions. Illness arises when chakra energies get imbalanced. Healing through chakra rebalancing can be done by choosing to eat more natural foods in corresponding colours. 

Do remember, naturally colourful is the keyword. It does not mean eating an artificially coloured, packaged product.

Rainbow Diet, the Facilitator of General Wellness

What the yogic tradition has known for thousands of years is now being validated by modern science.  Nutritionists are recommending rainbow diets i.e. ensuring your food platter is full of colourful fruits and vegetables. 

The scientific reason for this is that colourful fruits and vegetable pack in diverse antioxidants, minerals, vitamins, and phytochemicals that can fill your diet’s nutritional deficiency gaps. “Eat the rainbow” is the new buzzword in healthy eating.

Here is a brief look at the health benefits of colourful fruits and vegetables:

Red

Red fruits and vegetables like strawberries, cherries, radishes, beets, tomatoes, watermelon, pomegranates and red bell peppers are rich in lycopene and ellagic acid, two potent phytonutrients. These especially help fight free radicals, stabilize blood sugar levels, reduce heart problem risk, and improve skin quality.

Orange & Yellow

Orange and yellow fruits and vegetables like carrots, oranges, peaches, lemons, melons, yellow bell peppers, corn, pineapple, mangoes, and papaya are rich in vitamin C and carotenoids. Regular consumption of yellow foods helps improve immunity, better eye health, and help reduce heart problem risk.

Green

Green fruits and vegetables such as apples, pear, cucumber, spinach, kale, greens, broccoli,

cabbage, celery, and grapes are rich in chlorophyll, lutein, isothiocyanates, isoflavones, and vitamin K. These help boost immunity, detoxify the body and restore vitality and energy.

Blue, Violet & Purple

Fruits and vegetables from this family of colours are eggplants, blueberries, jamun, plums, purple grapes, prunes and purple cabbage. These are rich in resveratrol and anthocyanins. Consumption of these helps boost immunity and the body’s healing abilities. 

Fruits and vegetables in gentler colours

Along with these bright colourful foods, there are fruits and vegetables in gentler shades of white, off white and brown. Some of these are mushrooms, ginger, white eggplant, cauliflower, potatoes and garlic. These also have key phytonutrients and should be included in your platter of foods.

Now that we know the importance of colours, let’s play Holi. And thereafter, ensure that your food platter has colourful foods of every hue.

Happy Holi. Hello, Wellness. Hello, Good Health.