Science used to believe that phytochemicals were absolutely useless. However as more experts delve into the study of plants they have found that they appear to help fight off cancer, heart disease and stroke even though they don’t understand why. In fact over 200 studies conducted show that a diet high in fruits and veggies substantially cut the risk of cancer. That alone becomes increasingly important as you get older and the risk of disease increases.

 

Some of these phytochemicals are simple to detect. The bright orange color of carrots, sweet potatoes or yams are obvious. The pungent whiff of phytochemicals is apparent in garlic. However, most are undetectable.

 

The chemicals are there to actually protect the plant. It is believed that they evolved to protect plants from oxygen, wind, insects and weather. Remember that plants feed on carbon dioxide and oxygen is actually waste.

 

Without protection from the ultraviolet rays of a hot sun plants would shrivel and die. In the dirt where bulb plants grow, they are subjected to the hazards of bacteria and insects.

 

Edward Miller, Ph.D., professor of biomedical sciences in the Department of Biomedical Sciences at Baylor College of Dentistry in

Houston states that, “We can save more than 150,000 lives a year, right now, with no treatments, no medical costs, no long-term recovery – if people would just eat the foods that protect them.”

Worldwide studies have proven that phytochemicals protect against, but there is no one phytochemical or any other substance that you can take or eat for protection.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 7th, 2008 at 11:07 am and is filed under anti-ageing, health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.