Phytochemicals – Multi Talented

Eat Raw Fruit and Vegetables

Eat Your 5 serving of fruit and vegetables daily

- if not think about a supplement

If you ever feel tempted to go for a burger, fries and a soft drink, consider this: along with the fast food, you are ordering up an increased risk of heart disease, diabetes and obesity. But the opposite is true, too. According to a new University of Florida (UF) study, if you stay away from processed and fast foods and instead eat a lot of veggies, nuts and fruits, you will actively be helping to prevent or reverse harmful metabolic processes in your body. The result? Better health and a slimmer body.

An important advantage to having plant-based foods as an abundant part of your daily diet appears to result from the phytochemicals they contain. As noted in the UF findings recently published in the Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics, these natural substances prevent oxidative stress — a process linked to being overweight and to the onset of diseases including heart disease and diabetes. Phytochemicals include lycopene from tomatoes, isoflavones from soy, beta carotene from carrots, anthocyanins from blueberries, allicin from garlic, and many more.

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How Do You Eat a Rainbow

How are you doing with your daily intake of superfoods?
Are nourishing your body with a variety of these foods each week?

Here is a suggestion that has been helpful for many of us on our health journey:

Enjoy the following article that highlights the benefits of eating the delicious rainbow that nature makes available to us:

In the world of finance, experts advise you to avoid putting all your eggs in one basket. When it comes to your diet, a similar rule exists but with this twist: avoid filling your basket with only eggs. Just as with your finances, diversity is the smartest choice around when it comes to choosing the foods that you eat. Applying a diversity strategy to your eating patterns can provide you with easy opportunities to lose pounds, gain years, and enjoy some of the most delicious foods on the planet.

Step inside the major food categories
You probably know all the major players in the nutrition game: vegetables, fruits, grains, dairy, meat-based foods, and fats. Getting an appropriate amount of each major kind of food every day is a good start toward eating a diverse diet. But can you name five different fruits you’ve eaten in the past week? Within each food category is a vast array of nutrient-rich foods, each one containing hundreds of unique substances. The key is to get to know all the different powerful choices within each food category and to introduce these different foods into your diet on a rotating basis. With a little exploration, you can find hundreds of nutritious newcomers to add to your meals and make them more satisfying and more nutritious. Continue Reading…

Apples

Traditionally, apple peels have been considered healthy because of their fibre content, as the peel contains about 75 percent of the dietary fibre in an apple.

But a recent study has shown that the peel also contains most of the beneficial phytochemicals responsible for apples’ anti-carcinogenic effects.

Scientists processed more than 200 pounds of Red Delicious apples, and extracted phytochemicals from about 24 pounds of peel. They screened the compounds for anti-cancer effects in laboratory cultures of human liver, breast, and colon cancer cells, and identified a group of compounds with potent anti-cancer properties. Specifically, 13 triterpenoids from the peels of Red Delicious apples were identified and confirmed to be highly effective against cancer. Exactly how and why these biochemicals seek and destroy cancer cells is still unknown.

Apple consumption has previously been linked to a reduced risk of lung cancer, heart disease, and stroke.

Source: Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry, Vol. 55, No. 11, May 30, 2007: 4366-4370