Live Well, Eat Whole

An introduction to whole foods and nutrition by Jan Ridgely

Fruits and Vegetables

Such a broad category, which contains so many wonderful choices. Just about anything you choose is loaded with vitamins, minerals and fiber. Some of the more colourful fruits and vegetables are also full of anticancer, antioxidant phytochemicals.

Phytochemicals are molecules that give plants color, protect them from sunlight, oxygen and insects. These phytochemicals can protect people too. It's not good enough to isolate one of these. Research continues to show phytochemicals work best with each other, in other words, in the whole food!

Some other phytochemicals that are gaining recognition: -Lycopene-the red in tomato, shown to have anti-cancer properties and decrease heart disease risk. -Anthocyanians - the blue in blueberries, also with powerful anti-cancer properties.

Why does eating phytochemicals help?

1) Phytochemicals work mainly as powerful antioxidants, which quench the millions of molecules in the body that mutate and become reactive. Left unchecked, these molecules -you may have heard them called free radicals- can damage cell walls where plaque can build up leading to heart disease and stroke or damage other cells, which can mutate and become carcinogenic.

2) Other phytochemicals have been shown to actually block cancer cell production. In a recent study published in the October issue of the International Journal of Cancer, a diet rich in carotenoids may decrease ovarian cancer risk. Carrots and tomatoes and others high in carotene and lycopene, are rich in these cancer-fighting nutrients. The study cited alpha carotene as providing high cancer protective properties. Alpha, not beta, the carotene we are most familiar with and taking in isolated supplements.

3) The nutrients in fruits and vegetables provide the full complement needed for our bones. It's not just calcium, but an array of vitamins, minerals and trace nutrients such as zinc, copper, manganese, folic acid and B-vitamins found in fruits and vegetables.

4) If for nothing else, eat fruits and vegetables to look younger! Fruits and vegetables rejuvenate our skin. Grapes, strawberries and pineapple in particular are rich in alpha-hydroxy acids, necessary for the matrix that firms skin. Eat it or soak in it!