Interesting researches have come up with valuable information for health maintenance and protection. According to an extensive study on American adults, individuals who consumed several portions of raw salads and vegetables daily tended to have elevated blood levels of vitamins, minerals, enzymes, antioxidants, and phytonutrients. Findings showed that even one helping of uncooked vegetables a day supplied the body with the required doses of vitamins A, C, E, B6, folic acid, and antioxidants.
According to Dr. Joseph Su of the Louisiana State University Health Center in New Orleans, more Americans are consuming less plant source foods. While younger white women were found to be the highest eaters of salads, older African Americans were the lowest consumers of such dishes. The research also indicated that African Americans intake of vegetables was “alarming(ly)” low.
Those with the highest nutrients in their blood were the ones who regularly ate salads and raw or lightly cooked vegetables. They had 15 percent more of phytonutrients and vitamin C than their counterparts who did not include them in their daily diets. Professor Lenore Arab of the University of California, Los Angeles, recommends one large portion or more of raw salad a day to acquire much needed nutrients. The dish should contain a variety of deep pigment veggies such dark leafy greens (sprouts, spinach, romaine lettuce, parsley, green herbs), assorted (yellow, orange, red) peppers, red tomatoes, and purple cabbage and beets. Phytonutrients are found in the deep-colors of fresh fruits, vegetables, and their skins.
With the recent invasion of fast food and their eateries, salads, raw vegetables, and fresh fruits have vanished from our diet. Lunches and dinners around the family table have faded and are replaced by processed, pre-prepared, and dine-in meals, snacks, pastry, and sandwiches devoid of fresh whole produce. It is important to consume more uncooked fresh vegetables and fruits instead of nutrient-empty overcooked, fried, fatty, and fast foods. Is there wonder that obesity and diseases have replaced good health?
Vegetables, fruits, and their skins contain health protecting phytochemicals, vitamins, minerals, and enzymes, not provided by overcooked, processed, and pre-packaged foods. Here are some of such beneficial phytonutrients.
Glucosinates in the cruciferous family (broccoli, cabbage, Brussels’ sprouts, cauliflower) provide protection plus indole-3-cartinole, which can prevent colon and breast cancers. Professor Ian Johnson of the Institute of Food Research found a phytochemical in the cruciferous, mustard, kale, and radishes, which stops the division of colon cancer cells and targets tumor cells.
Bioflavonoids in citrus fruits and other plants boost immunity; work against cholesterol build-up and cardiovascular disease; strengthen blood vessel walls; make collagen for skin, gum, muscles, and bone health; and prevent scurvy.
Quercetin in apples, onions, tea, and red grapes promotes health fitness; suppresses histamines that cause allergies; and inhibits the action of hormones in prostate cancer cells.
Allicin in chopped garlic suppresses cancer cell mutation; boosts immunity and microflora; and protects against cardiovascular disease.
Carotenoids, glutathione, and polyphenols are antibacterial, anti-inflammatory health promoters and protectors against cancers.
Not only vitamins, minerals, fiber, and phytonutrients are available in uncooked vegetables but also enzymes and coenzymes. Because enzymes get destroyed by heat and cooking, raw vegetables and fruits are important to have. Enzyme pioneer, Dr. Edward Howell, called them the “sparks of life.” These protein molecules found in fresh produce are catalysts to many nutrients in the human body. They are necessary for food breakdown, digestion, and cellular energy as well as tissue, organ, and cell repair and brain stimulation. Their main action is expediting most bodily functions to sustain life. Without them, food digestion, cell, organ, and tissue repair, and brain activity slow down, resulting in the body’s breakdown.
There are different enzymes for different functions. The body needs them to build bone, glandular and muscle tissue, skin, and nerve cells and to activate certain nutrients. Enzymes are important components for blood coagulation to prevent bleeding. Metabolic enzymes are the catalysts that convert protein, carbohydrates, and fats into body building blocks. Enzymes are required for the elimination of waste and toxins from the colon, lungs, liver, kidneys, and skin. Some metabolic enzymes protect cells against free radicals; others break down metabolic waste to liberate oxygen for body use.
Both raw and lightly cooked vegetables and fruits are essential to supply the body with important micro-nutrients to maintain health and prevent disease and imbalances. While fresh raw vegetables retain their full nutritional value, lightly cooked veggies offer other cancer fighting and health-promoting antioxidants. Carotenoids in carrots and lycopene in tomatoes (precursors of vitamin A) become more bioavailable through light cooking, thus preventing heart disease and prostate cancer. Spinach and Swiss chard are also better eaten lightly cooked in order to neutralize their oxalic acid content.
Fresh raw organic whole veggies, sprouts, grasses (wheat, barley), and fruits can be added to salads, sandwiches, side and main dishes, and as snacks and can be juiced as well. Fresh vegetable juices offer health-promoting enzymes especially with wheat or barley grass. When fresh produce is not available, frozen ones are good substitutes as freezing preserves their goodness.
Whether they are cooked, raw, or juiced, fresh organic vegetables, sprouts, seaweed, and fruits and plant-based whole foods offer essential active ingredients, which prevent and fight cancer and its recurrence, cardiovascular disease, cataract, skin problems, and respiratory and digestive disorders, boost immunity, and maintain health and energy, while slowing down the aging process. Remember the magic in plant-based foods lies in their color, freshness, variety, quality (organic and mineral-rich), and food combination.
