When it comes to healthy eating, consider adding some purple foods to your diet.

That’s because many purple foods contain anthocyanins, which are red, blue and purple natural pigments. Anthocyanins are healthy because they’re powerful antioxidants and may help boost the immune system, maintain health and prevent disease, said J. Scott Smith, Kansas State University professor of food chemistry.

“It’s the name of the game right now,” Smith said. “Everybody is really interested in antioxidants because they are thought to be healthy.”

Anthocyanins are more prevalent in fruits than vegetables, Smith said, noting the deep red and purple hues of apple skin and grapes. Because anthocyanins are pH sensitive, they can appear more red or blue depending on the type of food.

Anthocyanins are especially common in berries, including blueberries, cranberries, raspberries and blackberries.

Even the extracts from foods that contain anthocyanins are healthy, Smith said. A recent trend in the food industry is to use natural, instead of synthetic, food dyes. Anthocyanins can be extracted from fruits or vegetables and then used as a natural purple or blue-hued food dye.

Because red wine comes from grapes, it also contains anthocyanins. In addition, red wine contains resveratrol, which is an antioxidant and may be heart-healthy.

While beets come in deep reds and purples, it’s not because of anthocyanins, Smith said. The purple color found in beetroot comes from betalain pigments, which replace anthocyanins in some plants. Betalains are also healthy antioxidants.