Phytonutrients

The thousands of nutritional components in natural foods can help protect you from chronic inflammation. This will help you avoid certain injuries and speed recovery from workouts and races. In addition, reducing chronic inflammation helps prevent cancer, heart disease, and other degenerative conditions.

Phytonutrients—also called phytochemicals—are chemical compounds made by plants from sunlight (via photosynthesis) when grown in good-quality soil. These substances have been researched in the labs for decades and used therapeutically for centuries by many cultures. Scientists now know there are thousands of these natural chemicals that have potent healthy actions.

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Phytonutrients comprise three main groups of plant compounds that include phenols, terpenes, and nitrogen-containing alkaloids. Some of the names may be familiar to you while others may not. And many have been appearing on store shelves as dietary supplements for years. Some common phytonutrients include a group of carotenes (including alpha and beta, and lycopene), a group of bioflavanoids (including hesperetin and lutein), and isothiocyanates (including sulforaphan). There are also seven phytonutrients contained in what I call the vitamin E complex. These include four tocotrienols and three tocopherols (the component most people are familiar with is alpha tocopherol, which is technically not a phytonutrient but vitamin E).

Don’t be concerned about remembering all the names, but do remember to consume a variety of foods. In addition to vegetables and fruits, raw nuts and seeds contain the best sources of many phytonutrients. They’re even found in other foods, including green and black tea, and grass-fed beef.

Some plant compounds in this category that are commonly synthesized as drugs include caffeine, nicotine, morphine, and cocaine. These compounds are not considered nutrients, so the term “phytochemical” would best apply.

The presence of phytonutrients is one reason studies continue to show that eating vegetables and fruits prevents cancer and most other chronic diseases, while the common dietary supplements containing vitamins don’t. More than fifteen years ago, epidemiologist John Potter, of the University of Minnesota, was quoted in Newsweek, providing us with a snapshot of the bigger scientific picture : “At almost every one of the steps along the pathway leading to cancer, there are one or more compounds in vegetables or fruit that will slow up or reverse the process.” Unfortunately, most people don’t eat enough of the foods that contain these powerful nutrients.