Why is Eating more Types of Fruits and Vegetables Good for Health?

 

The different colours of fruits and vegetables represent different phytochemicals present in the plant foods itself. 

Phytochemicals are the nutrients found in plant foods that give it its unique colours or organoleptic flavours. Besides tingling our senses, they work together in harmony to nourish our immune system in various ways. The above screen shots just show a few examples. :)

A review of around 200 studies that looked at the relationship between fruits and vegetable intake and various cancers was conducted by Dr. Gladys Block from University of California, Berkeley. Cancers of the lung, colon, breast, cervix, esophagus, oral cavity, stomach, bladder, pancreas, and ovary were reviewed.

In this review, they discovered that,

For most cancer sites, persons with low fruit and vegetable intake (at least the lower one-fourth of the population) experience about twice the risk of cancer compared with those with high intake, even after control for potentially confounding factors.

 

However, phytochemicals need to be consumed in the form of wholesome fruits and vegetables, rather than phytochemicals purified and made into dietary supplement. Pertaining to this, this article published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition proposes their view as follows:

We believe that the evidence suggests that antioxidants are best acquired through whole-food consumption, not as a pill or an extract. 

How can get the goodness of a variety wholesome fruits and vegetables but yet without the hassle of having to wash, clean, cut them? Stay tuned to my next post for more information!

Cheers!
Janice

+65 84998618 

Janice@ImmuneSuperFood.com

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References: 

1) Block G, Patterson B, Subar A. Fruit, vegetables, and cancer prevention: a review of the epidemiological evidence. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1408943?dopt=Abstract 

2) Health benefits of fruit and vegetables are from additive and synergistic combinations of phytochemicals http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/78/3/517S.full