Natural pigments
- yellow
- orange
- red
In Foods
| Colour | Avoid | Eat More | 
| Yellow | Yellow beans Corn (seed) | Yellow peppers | 
| Orange |    Oranges juice (sugar)     Pumpkin seeds | Carrots (glucose OK)  Orange skin (zest) Marmalade, citrus skins Pumpkin meat (no seeds) | 
| Red | Strawberries (seeds) Red beans (seed) |  Tomatoes Red peppers | 
| Combinations 
 Many More |  Canaries | Shrimp Lobster Salmon ..... | 
 Animals cannot make these pigments
 Humans get them from
- animals that eat pigmented plants
- eating pigmented plants
These pigments are
- defense against diseases
- 
protection from heat - plants need them for the hot summer temperatures
- high in lungs to protect from heat such as a sauna or fever
- protects the structure from destruction during
 
- heat exposure
- fever
 
- kills germs, including Covid-19
- protects lungs during infections
- released when burned
- high in rubber to give the black smoke
- burning molecules releases them
- these pigments are key in exhaust, burning
 
Pigments decline as we age:
- loss of hair color
- pale skin when sick
moving to more technical
- Isoprene - the bases of these pigments
 - carotinoids are based on isoprenes
 
- learn about the haze over cities
- why global warming is not actually carbon dioxide
 
- Isoprene - (inorganic)
- emissions per year
 
- CO2 - carbon dioxide  (organic)
 - emissions per year
 
A source of haze
Scientists identify how a hydrocarbon commonly emitted by plants is converted to light-scattering aerosols
By Sid Perkins
AUGUST 6, 2009 AT 2:25 PM

Sid Perkins is a freelance science writer based in Crossville, Tenn.