Fall is in full swing across the Northeast. Many of us look forward to warmly-bundled walks while wind rolls through the leaves around us. A steaming mug of cider or cocoa on the couch after. Maybe a fire in the fireplace, a quilt, and a good book…

Fall brings rich imagery, but none more than the silent red, orange and yellow wending through the leaves. In a fitting twist of fate, the organic compounds that create this living painting are also compounds upon which our own lives depend...

Beauty and life, together. Fitting indeed.

The scarlet tones that sweep through the sugar maples are created by anthocyanins, which occur throughout our darkly colored fruits and vegetables. You’ve probably heard of the powerful antioxidants in blueberries and blackberries: those are purple anthocyanins.¹ When you add beets to your diet because you’ve heard that they can lower LDL (bad cholesterol), it’s the red anthocyanins that come to your rescue.³

The orange hues that drape the sweet gums and sumacs are caused by carotenoids. These compounds can be found everywhere from kale to mangos. Many of these, your body converts to vitamin A as easily as throwing a light switch, which then support everything from your vision to your immune system.⁴

Sometimes the route to our table is more circuitous. The yellow tresses worn by the oaks come from xanthophylls, which are created by plants. Yet eggs yolks get their color from the xanthophyll lutein. Chickens consume plants, concentrate the lutein in their eggs, which then wind up hollandaised over a piece of toast. The xanthophylls form your personal cellular-defense militia, hunting down reactive oxygen and nitrogen compounds before they have the chance to damage anything.²

Interestingly, these three classes of compounds (and their beautiful hues) exist in the leaves around us all year. But during the growing season, chlorophyl overshadows the rest with its brilliant green. In autumn, as the trees go to sleep for the winter, the chlorophyl breaks down, and the beauty underneath begins to appear.

Most of the modern world is like that. Our business, commitments, and activities keep us moving. And certainly, engagement is one of the best parts of life.

But perhaps we need autumn, a time when the busyness can slacken while the growth around us drifts to sleep for a while. Then the hidden beauty beneath can reveal itself. And if we can stroll through it or watch it through a window with a steaming mug, so much the better.

So, scientifically, hidden beauty is always around us, just waiting for the tumult and chaos to subside.

From all of us at Transonic, we wish you peace and serenity in this season of quiet color.

Thanks for reading,

               Transonic Systems, Inc

                              The Measure of Better Results

References:

1. 18 foods that help lower blood pressure (medicalnewstoday.com)
2. Microalgae Xanthophylls: From Biosynthesis Pathway and Production Techniques to Encapsulation Development - PMC (nih.gov)
3. Anthocyanin: Foods, Benefits, Side Effects, and Supplements (healthline.com)
4. What To Know About Carotenoids (clevelandclinic.org)