Health Care

 

COLOR COMPLEX 

Forget pricey supplements and exotic fruit and vegetables. Your humble bhindi, baigan and beetroot may be the true superstars of the produce world


Thousands of substance exist in fruits and vegetables and whole grains that are neither vitamins nor minerals, and supply no calories. Yet they may help protect against ageing, cancer, heart disease, and other diseases. Know what they are? The answer is phytochemicals, meaning "plant chemicals." Like vitamins and minerals which also come from plants (as well as from animal-derived foods) phytochemicals are essential to good health. But no one knows how many and how much of them we need.
An amazing 4,000 phytochemicals have been identified so far, and many more remain to be discovered. Only about 150 have been intensively studied. One huge class of phytochemical is the polyphenols, which include the much discussed flavonoids. These come in many varieties, such as flavonols, flavones, flavanones, and isoflavonoids, to name a few. True to their name, flavonoids are sometimes flavorants, such as the allylic sulfides that give garlic, shallots, and onions their pungent taste and smell. Flavonoids can also be pigments, such as the anthocyanidins that make cherries and strawberries red, and the blueberries blue. Another large phytochemical category is the carotenoids, which are also pigments, adding colour to red peppers, pink grapefruits, tomatoes, carrots, and watermelon, among other foods.
Double benefit
Phytochemicals do big favours for plants some protect plants – from solar radiation, for instance, while others repel insects. They do big favours for humans, too, because they make foods attractive, tasty, and fragrant. Of course, if you dislike their flavour, they can keep you away from certain foods. Fortunately, the enormous range of tastes and smells means that wide choices are available. But not all phytochemicals are beneficial. Of the 4,000 known, some have effects in the human body, and some have no effect. Some are actually toxic (those in poisonous mushrooms, for example).
The other favour they do for us is to keep our cell chemistry stable in various ways. That is, they act as antioxidants: they dispose of cell-damaging free radicals, which are by-products of the processing of oxygen in the body. Free radical formation is boosted by various environmental factors such as smoking, air pollution, infection, and too much sunlight.
Phytochemicals help prevent cancer in a number of ways, some of them related to their antioxidant abilities. They can prevent potentially cancer causing substances, or carcinogens, from forming. They may block the action of carcinogens on their target organs or tissue. Still others act on cells to suppress cancer development. They may also help protect against other diseases, notably heart diseases. They may influence blood pressure and blood clotting or reduce the synthesis and absorption of cholesterol. Certain pigments (carotenoids) in plant foods may protect the eye against free radical damage and thus prevent or postpone macular degeneration, which can lead to blindness.
All plants foods contain phytochemicals, in varying amounts. This does not mean that any single food or any single category is going to work miracles. It does not mean that you should concentrate on any one category or food and forget the rest. Nor should you try to include all of them in a day's diet. Each one is well worth including in a healthy diet. If you follow our advice and base your diet on fruits and vegetables and grains you'll get the phytochemicals you need.
Scientists are not sure which phytochemicals are responsible for the protective effects of this or that food. These substances almost surely act synergistically that is, in conjunction with other phytochemicals as well as with vitamins, minerals, fibre, hormones, and other compounds in foods.
The bottom line
While vitamin and mineral supplements make sense in some cases, phytochemical supplements do not. Eat lots of plant foods. Your best friend may turn out to be a beetroot.
HEALTH AND FITNESS