Red Pepper

Benefits – Anti-allergic, antioxidant, anti-cancer, contain vitamins A, C, B6 and beta-carotene.
Red pepper contains the highest level of beta-carotene out of all the peppers and is an excellent source of vitamin C, vital for healthy teeth, gums, bones and skin. The plant form of vitamin A it provides is essential for good eyesight and healthy skin. It also helps maintain normal blood fat levels and aids production of haemoglobin by the red blood cells, encourages a healthy nervous system and can protect against asthma, migraine and depression.
A medium sized pepper provides more than three times the recommended daily intake of vitamin C making it an excellent food for boosting immunity against colds and influenza. Being a member of the chilli family, it also contains a substance called capsaicin, which gives the chilli its spicy taste. Capsaicin has the ability to stop the cell changes that could lead to cancer. However, too much capsaicin caused by eating too many red chillies – can increase the risk of certain cancers. It is also one of a family of vegetables which may cause adverse reactions in those with food allergies or arthritis. Capsaicin is also a natural painkiller.

Tomato

Benefits – Anti-cancer, antioxidant, anti-viral, helps prevent appendicitis.
Research suggests that eating tomatoes may reduce the risk of certain cancers, particularly those of the prostate, lung, stomach, cervix, bladder and pancreas. They contain various beneficial compounds including lycopene, a red carotenoid pigment that may act as an antioxidant in the body.
Both fresh and processed tomatoes (especially in tomato ketchup and pasta sauces) contain lycopene. They improve the immune system’s responsiveness while also helping to maintain energy levels, making them ideal for cancer patients as they boost resistance to infectious disease, encourage wound healing and keep the skin and mucous membranes in good condition.
Like many fruits and vegetables, tomatoes are also a useful source of vitamins C and E. Two medium sized tomatoes supply half the adult daily requirement of vitamin C.
Canned tomatoes have a little less vitamin C than fresh but levels of vitamin E are the same.
Unfortunately, some people cannot tolerate tomatoes, especially rheumatoid arthritis sufferers. They can also aggravate eczema and green tomatoes may trigger migraines in some people.
 

Lettuce

Benefits – Contains folate and beta-carotene, which converts into vitamin A, is low in fat and has no cholesterol.
You can eat as much lettuce as you like, it only contains a few calories and is 90 per cent water. When it comes to choosing a lettuce the greener the better. Dark Green lettuce is far richer in nutrients and beta-carotene. The cos lettuce is slightly richer in protein and potassium and has twice the fibre of iceberg. A small cup of cos contains 20 per cent of an adult's recommended daily allowance of beta-carotene and twice as much fibre as iceberg.
Silicon is also contained in lettuce, the structural part of collagen, which supports bones, joints, arteries and connective tissue.
Endive is also an excellent salad leaf. It has very high levels of folate which helps cut the risk of heart disease if eaten regularly. Folate-rich foods are recommended for pregnant women, along with a folic acid supplement, to reduce the risk of the baby having spina bifida.
Like other leaves, endive is a good food to eat because it is low in calories and has no fat content, but is packed full of nutrients. Endive has anti-cancer powers, particularly against colon cancer. It also has high iron levels so eating it will reduce the risk of anaemia and its high calcium content is useful for deterring osteoporosis.
It is recommended that you always tear salad leaves rather than cutting them, to save as much of the vitamin C content as possible. Cutting the leaves destroys the cells and the vitamin C is lost, whilst if you tear gently, the leaf will break around the cells, keeping them – and the vitamin C – intact.

Broccoli

Benefits – Anti-cancer, antioxidant, anti-stress, energy boosting. A daily serving supplies the adult requirement of vitamin C, as well as useful amounts of beta-carotene, folic acid, iron and potassium. Useful for recurrent infections, lowered immunity and anaemia.
It is a cruciferous vegetable – it has four petals that to botanical historians resembled a crucifix. It is considered to be one of the biggest weapons in the nutritional fight against cancer. It speeds up the removal of oestrogen from the body, helping suppress breast cancer. It is also rich in cholesterol reducing fibre, has anti-viral, anti-ulcer activity and is a great source of chromium that helps regulate insulin and blood sugar.
Rich in folic acid, it helps keep blood healthy and is especially recommended for women who are planning a pregnancy or who are already pregnant – (A 175g serving of broccoli contains about a quarter of the recommended daily intake for the first 12 weeks of pregnancy reducing the risk of spina bifida in an unborn baby). In tests women who ate more broccoli were less prone to cancer of the cervix.
Broccoli is a good plant source of iron, therefore, people with anaemia and debilitating illnesses should make it an essential part of their diet.