How Phytonutrients in Plants Protect Your Health: The Science Behind Plant-Based Antioxidants in Your Diet

Introduction

I would like to share with you the real reason why fruits and vegetables are good for you.

Plant Phytonutrients

What are Phytonutrients?

Phytonutrients or Phytochemicals are chemicals that are produced naturally by plants to help protect themselves against bacteria, viruses, fungi, pests, and even harm from animals and insects that might want to eat them.

It is basically a plant's natural defence.

There are hundreds of different types of phytochemicals, but common phytonutrients include anthocyanins, chlorophyll, resveratrol or polyphenols, carotenoids such as lutein, and flavonoids.

These "phytonutrients" are what give plants, vegetables, fruits, seeds and flowers their distinct colours.

For example, it is chlorophyll that makes plants, vegetables and fruits green, carotenoids that make them yellow and orange(carrots, oranges, pawpaws), anthocyanins that make fruits red and purple (grapes, pomegranates, strawberries) and so on.

The Role of Phytonutrients in Human Health

Phytonutrients belong to a class of compounds known as antioxidants which help prevent damage done to cells in our bodies by fighting off harmful components in our bodies known as Free Radicals.

You can learn more about antioxidants here.

Phytonutrients in our body mainly help to prevent damage to cells throughout the body which preserves cell health while nourishing, protecting, energizing, and promoting cell longevity. This keeps your body working properly preventing and reversing health conditions as well as promoting healthy, painless and disease-free ageing.

Phytonutrients are known to reduce the risk of Inflammatory and Degenerative Diseases such as acne, cancer, obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, arthritis, fibroids, cysts, cardiovascular diseases such as heart attacks and stroke, neurological diseases such as low memory, memory loss, fatigue, low concentration span and more.

How to source Phytonutrients

Plants are the only ones that produce phytonutrients through their leaves, fruits, seeds, stems, branches and whatever else they have or produce, so it's logical to say that plants and their products are how you source phytonutrients.

Given the statement that phytonutrients are what determine a plant's colour (or its produce), it is a good idea to have multiple colours of plant produce every day to be sure that you are getting all the benefits from the various phytonutrients.

Regarding which colours are best and what nutrients they possess, my food and nutrition guides available in the ebooks section of the menu have covered that in good and simple detail to allow you to know your food but I'll give you this...

...the best way to identify a vegetable or fruit with a high concentration of phytonutrients and therefore antioxidants is to look at how dark (mainly vegetables) and deep (mainly fruits, seeds and tubers) the colour is.

Do not limit your sourcing of phytonutrients to fruits and vegetables only because legumes, nuts and cereals, including coffee and cocoa beans are also rich in phytonutrients.

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