Sound good?
Then you need…. Phytochemicals!
Phytochemicals are non-nutritive plant chemicals that have protective or disease preventive properties. They are non-essential nutrients, meaning that they are not required by the human body for sustaining life. But it may be argued that they are vital for good health.
It is one thing to be alive and another thing to be healthy.
The more we understand the body and how it functions the more we realise that some non-essential nutrients are essential for health, just not essential for life. Personally, I would prefer to have good health rather than just to be alive.
There are many phytochemicals and each works differently. Some of their actions include:
- Antioxidant – Most phytochemicals have antioxidant activity and protect our cells against oxidative damage, thereby they can reduce the risk of developing cancer. Phytochemicals with antioxidant activity include allyl sulfides (onions, leeks, garlic), carotenoids (fruits, carrots), flavonoids (fruits, vegetables), polyphenols (tea, grapes).
- Hormonal action – Isoflavones, like that found in soy, imitate human estrogens and help to balance and maintain hormonal health. Isoflavones are important but we don’t want to overeat them either. If you stick to eating them in real food form and not in huge quantities they can be very beneficial. (Don’t eat the soy version of everything, soy meat, soy milk, soy protein, soy lecithin, soy thickener, soy emulsifier – read your ingredients!)
- Stimulation of enzymes – Indoles, which are found in cabbages, stimulate enzymes that make the estrogen less effective and could reduce the risk for hormonal related cancers like some types of breast cancer.
- Interference with DNA replication – Saponins found in beans interfere with the replication of cell DNA, thereby preventing the multiplication of cancer cells. Capsaicin, found in hot peppers, protects DNA from carcinogens. Chlorophyll (in anything green, especially dark leafy greens) also prevents the formation of carcinogens in our body.
- Anti-bacterial effect – The phytochemical allicin from garlic has anti-bacterial properties.
- Physical action – Some phytochemicals bind physically to cell walls thereby preventing the adhesion of pathogens to human cell walls. Proanthocyanidins are responsible for the anti-adhesion properties of cranberry. This is how cranberry consumption can help in urinary tract infections. Chlorophyll is another example that binds to carcinogens (cancer-causing) and helps you eliminate them rather than absorb them.
How to get them?
Eat the rainbow of fruits and vegetables! The more variety of colour and types of fruits and vegetables, the more likely you will get a large number of different varieties of phytochemicals! It is recommended that you eat greater than 8 serves of fruit and vegetables per day. That means at least 3/4 of every plateof food you eat should be fruits and vegetables!
Yours in Health,
Dr. Anthea Holder
(Chiropractor and Functional Nutritional Therapy Practitioner)