If you are at the grocery store and you are literally seeing red at the fresh produce section, rejoice! That’s because you have the opportunity to fill your shopping cart with red fruits and vegetables.

Apples, pomegranates, cherries, raspberries, cranberries, strawberries, watermelons, tomatoes, beets, radicchios, rhubarbs, red onions, red cabbages — these and other red-colored foods are attention-grabbing and it’s for a good reason: they are all perfect for you!

What makes so many red fruits and vegetables look that way is the presence of a red-colored antioxidant called lycopene. Sounds familiar? Well, that’s because a lot of food products that contain it proudly displays on their packaging “contains lycopene” where it can be easily spotted by health-conscious consumers.

Lycopene is one of the most revered antioxidants known to man because numerous scientific investigations have proven that it is highly capable of combating all sorts of cancer. Experts say that this antioxidant that gives red foods their striking color is particularly very good at preventing skin, lung, colon and breast cancer.

However, it is prostate cancer that lycopene is said to be superb at keeping at bay. And that is why so many males all over the planet are loading up on lycopene. So if you’re an African American male who is over 50 years old and has a family history of cancer, safeguard your prostate gland with lycopene.

But it’s not just for reducing cancer risk why you should include lots of red fruits and vegetables in your diet on a regular basis. Doctors say that the following are also the benefits to enjoy for doing so:

Lowered Heart Disease Risk

Many red-colored foods are known to keep heart disease at bay. It’s for the fact that they are capable of lowering the blood pressure and also the levels of bad cholesterol in the blood.

Both high blood pressure and high bad cholesterol are considered as risk factors for heart disease. So if both of these risk factors are kept out of the picture with the help of fresh produce that are red in color, then your risk of having to battle heart disease one day can be reduced considerably.

Increased Immunity

Red fruits and vegetables are also usually loaded with vitamin C, which is something that we need to keep the immune system running efficiently. You don’t want your immune system to be weakened because it’s going to make you susceptible to infections of the upper respiratory tract such as the flu and common cold.

By the way, you also need vitamin C to stay looking young — it is warranted by the body for the production of collagen, a type of protein that keeps the skin tight and free of wrinkles.

Reduced Joint Inflammation

Are you constantly frustrated because your joints feel stiff and painful? Then it’s a good idea to include more red-colored foods in your everyday diet. That’s because they possess incredible anti-inflammatory properties.

Those powerful anti-inflammatory compounds in red fruits and vegetables help shield the joints from damage caused by oxidative stress and chronic inflammation. In addition, foods that are red in color help manage just about any health issue that’s related to inflammation like asthma and diabetes, and of course cancer and heart disease.

Optimized Digestive Health

Just about any red fresh produce that you can think of is good for the digestive system. Thanks to their dietary fiber and water content, they facilitate the process of digestion. As a result, the addition of red-colored fruits and vegetables lets your body unlock the nutrients present in the foods that you eat.

Red foods also help promote regular bowel movement, which means that they help fend off constipation. Loading up on them prevents hemorrhoids from striking, and may also lower colorectal cancer risk.