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.

Without enough phytochemicals and antioxidants to counteract oxidative stress, damaging free radicals cause inflammation and other toxic problems in the body. In overweight people, excess fat tissue and certain enzymes that are more active also trigger the production of excessive free radicals, according to a media statement by the UF researchers.

The research team, headed by Heather K. Vincent, Ph.D., studied a group of 54 young adults divided into a normal weight and an overweight or obese group, analysing their dietary patterns over several days. Surprisingly, the people in both groups took in about the same amount of calories. However, the overweight and obese young people were found to be eating fewer plant-based foods. That means those who were carrying around excess pounds were consuming fewer protective trace minerals and phytochemicals and consuming far more saturated fats.

In addition, those eating less plant-based foods were found to have higher levels of oxidative stress and inflammation in their bodies than their normal-weight counterparts. This is a crucial finding because oxidative stress and inflammation are processes clearly associated with the onset of obesity, heart disease, diabetes and joint disease.

“Diets low in plant-based foods affect health over the course of a long period of time,” Dr. Vincent explained in a statement to the press. “This is related to annual weight gain, inflammation and oxidative stress. Those are the onset processes of disease that debilitate people later in life.”

“People who are obese need more fruits, vegetables, legumes and wholesome unrefined grains,” she said. “In comparison to a normal-weight person, an obese person is always going to be behind the eight ball because there are so many adverse metabolic processes going on.”

In order to get enough protective phytochemicals daily, the UF researchers concluded that people should try to consume plant-based foods such as leafy greens, fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes at the start of each meal. As a way to encourage people to get enough phytochemicals from meals and snacks, Dr. Vincent also called for use of a phytochemical index, which compares the number of calories consumed from plant-based, nutrient-rich foods with the overall number of calories taken in each day.

“Fill your plate with colourful, low-calorie, varied-texture foods derived from plants first. By slowly eating phytochemical-rich foods such as salads with olive oil or fresh-cut fruits before the actual meal, you will likely reduce the overall portion size, fat content and energy intake. In this way, you’re ensuring that you get the variety of protective, disease-fighting phytochemicals you need and controlling caloric intake,” said Vincent, an assistant professor in the UF Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine Institute, in the media statement.

Adapted from an article by S. L. Baker, features writer  (NaturalNews)

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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.

Take a colorful adventure

Start by taking a trip to the grocery store and spending a little more time than usual exploring the offerings. Hit the produce aisle first and while you’re inspecting the offerings, focus on the range of colours. Richly colourful plant foods, bright berries, sunny tangerines, and dark green lettuces contain important protective phytochemicals and antioxidants that help prevent disease and preserve health. Such healthful vegetables, fruits, and legumes are the items that are often lacking in most diets. Pick out four or five that you’ve never had before or that you rarely eat, plus grab a few of your favourites, too. Make sure you see a range of colours in your cart. The following information will help you appreciate the full range of nutritional power these different colours have to offer.

Red
Make these fruits and vegetables a regular part of your diet: tomatoes, watermelon, cherries, cranberries, pomegranates, beets, red peppers, radishes, radicchio, red potatoes, rhubarb.

These foods contain the important phytochemicals, lycopene and anthocyanins, which help promote: heart health, memory function, urinary tract health and they lower your risk of certain types of cancer.

Blue-Purple
Make these fruits and vegetables a regular part of your diet: blackberries, blueberries, black currants, dried plums, elderberries, purple figs, red grapes, plums, raisins, red cabbage, eggplant, purple peppers.

These foods contain the important phytochemicals, anthocyanins and phenolics, which help promote: urinary tract health, memory function and they lower your risk of certain types of cancer.

Yellow-Orange
Make these fruits and vegetables a regular part of your diet: apricots, cantaloupe, grapefruit, lemons, mangoes, nectarines, oranges, papayas, peaches, persimmons, pineapple, tangerines, squash, carrots, yellow peppers, pumpkin, rutabagas, sweet potatoes.

These foods contain the important phytochemicals, carotenoids and flavonoids, which help promote: heart health, vision health, a healthy immune system and they lower your risk of certain types of cancer.

Yellow-Green
Make these fruits and vegetables a regular part of your diet: avocados, green apples, green grapes, honeydew melon, kiwifruit, limes, green pears, artichokes, arugula, asparagus, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, celery, cucumbers, endive, leafy greens, green onions, okra, peas, green peppers, snow peas, sugar snap peas, spinach, watercress, zucchini.

These foods contain the important phytochemicals, lutein and indoles, which help promote: vision health, strong bones and teeth and they lower your risk of certain types of cancer.

White-Green
Make these fruits and vegetables a regular part of your diet: leeks, garlic, onions, chives, bananas, brown pears, dates, cauliflower, ginger, mushrooms, parsnips, shallots, turnips.

These foods contain the important phytochemicals, allyl sulfides and allicin, which help promote: heart health, healthy cholesterol levels and they lower your risk of certain types of cancer.

Source: www.real-age.com

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