Purple foods protect your heart and they're packed with flavonoids — known to be one of the most powerful phytochemicals. Flavonoids are heart-healthy, beneficial to the cardiovascular system and can lower your risk of heart disease.
Purple and blue pigment-related flavonoid phytonutrients, referred to as anthocyanins such as those that yield color to blackberries, blueberries, plums, raisins, eggplant, purple cabbage and purple-fleshed potatoes have been shown to have health benefits.
Benefits from ingesting these blue and purplish pigmented foods that have been demonstrated include protection against liver injuries; significant reduction of blood pressure; improvement of eyesight; strong anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial activities; inhibition of mutations caused by mutagens from cooked food; and suppression of proliferation of human cancer cells. As with other phenolic compounds, anthocyanins are free radical scavengers-meaning they are antioxidants that protect against free radical damage. The consumption of anthocyanins may play a major role in preventing lifestyle-related diseases such as cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular and neurological diseases.
Reference: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1082903/
