It used to be thought that fruits and vegetables are rich in fiber, vitamins, minerals and other nutrients and are the most important food sources to reduce chronic diseases. Recently, scientists found that fruits and vegetables contain thousands of different natural compounds "phytochemicals", which are rare health care products!
For a long time, it has been known that eating more fruits and vegetables can reduce the incidence of chronic diseases, and it is considered that the rich phytonutrients such as vitamins, minerals and dietary fiber in fruits and vegetables are the main key; However, more and more nutritionists have found that in addition to the above essential nutrients, there are more than 10 thousand nutrients in fruits and vegetables that have been discovered and confirmed one by one. These nutrients are "phytochemicals".
The growth of plants needs to fight against nature, including ultraviolet rays, environmental soil, moisture and pollution. Simply put, phytochemicals are special substances that provide plants with self-protection function; Just as color and taste are used to attract butterflies and bees to spread pollen, special smells are produced to repel and resist the harm of exotic insects, bacteria, fungi or viruses. Chen Bangji, consultant physician and clinical professor of gastrointestinal hepatobiliary surgery in Linkou Chang Gung Hospital, described: "Phytochemicals are like the immune system of plants, which not only maintain life, but also play a role in plant reproduction and body protection. 」
Hippocrates, the father of western medicine, once said, "Food is the best medicine. From the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine, "homology of medicine and food" has been proved time and again. Each food has its own different nutrients, and these substances can also play a considerable role in the human body, which can improve physiological functions and prevent or improve diseases.
Chen Bangji pointed out that from the current research, different phytochemicals have different effects on human body, including powerful antioxidants, which can scavenge free radicals, activate immune function, regulate and improve immunity; At the same time, it can assist vitamins to play their physiological functions, stimulate the detoxification activity of enzymes in vivo, regulate and produce enzymes, and prevent cell defects. On the other hand, it can also improve blood circulation, inhibit inflammation and allergies, resist bacterial and viral infections, and reduce the risk of cancer.
In addition, it can also help to treat and prevent chronic diseases, such as hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, obesity and osteoporosis. More importantly, because these nutrients come from the plant's own resistance to the environment, it also helps to improve the self-healing ability of the human body.
How many kinds of phytochemicals are there? In fact, so far, new phytochemicals have been discovered one after another. Because there are so many kinds that it is difficult to distinguish them, nutrition experts classify vegetables and fruits according to their colors, and use their pigments to mark their nutritional components, such as lycopene in red tomatoes and carotenoids in carrots.
Common phytochemicals can be divided into six categories: flavonoids, carotenoids, organic sulfides, phenolic acids, phytoestrogens and others.
flavonoid
Such as anthocyanin, catechin, quercetin, citrinin, rutin and apigenin. These nutrients can mainly protect plants from insects and microorganisms and have anti-allergic, anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial and anti-cancer effects on human body.
Main colors: yellow, red and purple.
carotenoid
Include beta-carotene, beta-cryptoxanthin, alpha-carotene, lutein, zeaxanthin, lycopene, capsaicin, capsaicin, etc. As a group of oil-soluble pigments, they shoulder the responsibility of protecting plants, so they are considered as good antioxidants, which can capture free radicals and help prevent cancer, protect cardiovascular system and avoid retinal degeneration.
Main colors: yellow, orange
Organic sulfide
Such as allicin, sulforaphane, glutathione, indole, isothiocyanate, etc. Organic chemicals containing sulfides have different functions in plants, including emitting unique smells to disperse pests and resist sunlight and air pollution. For the human body, they are good antioxidants and have detoxification effects.
Main colors: white, green
Phenolic acids
Such as chlorogenic acid, ellagic acid, gallic acid, p-coumaric acid, ferulic acid and salicylic acid. Phenolic acids play a role in structural connection between plant sugar groups and cell walls. When we eat fruits and vegetables, phenolic acids will be released from the link after digestion, and then play an antioxidant role, thus protecting the damage caused by immune oxidative stress, similar to preventive medicine.
Main colors: green, orange, white, red and purple.
phytoestrogen
Such as isoflavones, lignans, potatoes and taro soap. Phytoestrogens, like human hormones, have a two-way regulatory effect, and are mostly used to balance hormones in the body, which can prevent various cancers and reduce the risk of osteoporosis and high cholesterol.
Main colors: orange, green
other
Include chlorophyll, curcumin, resveratrol, caffeic acid, limonene, limonin, plant saponin, momordicin, rosmarinic acid, etc. These phytochemicals cannot be classified into any of the above categories, but they have many special effects, such as reducing cholesterol absorption and inhibiting tumor growth, which are of great help to human health.
Main colors: green, orange and white.
In 20 15, Taiwan Province Health Food Society made a survey on the plant nutrition intake of China people, and found that 92.6% of China people's daily intake of fruits and vegetables was not up to standard, and only 7.4% of China people ate five different colors of fruits and vegetables every day, which was seriously insufficient.
It was found that only 27.8% of men and 33.8% of women in adults over 19 reached the recommended daily intake of vegetables; The recommended daily fruit intake for men is 65438 07.4%, and that for women is 265438 0.6%. Only 6.2% of men and 8.6% of women reach the recommended daily intake of vegetables and fruits.
Coincidentally, the National Health Department of the Ministry of Health and Welfare also conducted a surveillance survey on health behavior risk factors (BRFSS) on 20 15. The results showed that the daily intake of 18-year-old adults was only 12.9%, 8.9% for men and 16.8% for women. The intake of18-24 years old is 8.9%, 25-34 years old is 10.4%, 35-44 years old is1.0%, and 45-54 years old is14.
The results of the above two surveys tend to be consistent, indicating that the intake of fruits and vegetables in China is generally insufficient. Not only can the intake of fruits and vegetables not reach the recommended amount of "five fruits and vegetables a day", not to mention "579 fruits and vegetables" or even "rainbow diet".
After 40 years as a doctor, Chen Bangji has seen too many patients with intestinal cancer, all of which are related to irregular diet, environment and life schedule. "I used to take medicine when I was sick. Now I pay attention to preventive medicine. Prevention is more important than treatment. If we can fully absorb complete, balanced and suitable nutrients, the cells of the human body will start the self-healing power of regeneration and repair, and the disease will naturally heal without drugs. 」
Chen Bangji, who is now actively studying nutritional medicine, believes that the daily nutrition of human body must include fiber and phytochemicals in addition to six essential nutrients such as sugar, protein, fat, vitamins, minerals and water. However, fiber and phytochemicals are not essential nutrients, so there is no reference standard for intake. Simply put, it is "better to have it, but you can live without eating." Moreover, natural food contains many nutrients, and there is no limit to the amount.
Indeed, fruits and vegetables are rich in water and dietary fiber, which can also make feces pass through the intestine quickly, reduce the absorption of harmful substances, inhibit the production of carcinogenic factors in the intestine and avoid the formation of cancer cells; Now it is found that it also contains a variety of vitamins and phytochemicals, which is very helpful to health. As long as the average person consumes enough and diversified fruits and vegetables, he can achieve the purpose of preventing cancer, resisting aging, regulating immunity and reducing the three highs. Why not?
Health benefits of phytochemicals
Phytochemicals are good helpers of human health and are known as "2 1 century vitamins". In recent years, more and more scientific experiments have confirmed that phytochemicals have the following protective effects on human body:
Antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects
Slow down aging
Cancer anti-cancer
Regulate gene expression
Avoid obesity
Regulating immunity and antiallergic
Prevention of cardiovascular diseases