What is phytochemical/phytonutrient?

"Phyto" comes from the Greek word "phuton" meaning "plants" hence the chemical/nutrient found in plants are called phytochemical or phytonutrient. They refer to the compounds found in plants that were originally classified as vitamins. Later it was found that phytochemicals are not vitamins at all.

Even though phytochemical is not a necessity to our body function, it has been proven over and over again, to be beneficial for human health. Not only does it help to prevent diseases, it also amazingly helps reverse many disorders.

It is estimated that there are tens of thousands of phytochemicals. However, only about 1,000 of these were identified and only about a hundred were actually analyzed and tested.

An astounding fact that proves an amazing Creator is that in each plant, it is believed there are hundreds of different phytochemicals. A simple tomato not only has lycopene, but has several hundreds of other phytochemicals which cannot even yet be identified by mere man.

How does phytonutrient work?

Studies after studies have shown that individuals with high intake of the four plant-based food groups--fruits, vegetables, whole grains and legumes--have a much lower risk of degenerative diseases such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, etc.

When free radicals run rampant in our body, through the air we breathe, the pesticides or chemicals in the food we eat, or merely from stress, they cause deterioration and destruction to our healthy cells. This process ultimately results in degenerative diseases in the weakest parts of our body that succumb to the attack.

When we eat food that has phytonutrient, it will quickly activate a group of enzymes that go around cleaning up the free radicals before they cause any harm to the body. Many phytonutrients are anti-oxidant.

How much phytonutrient do we need?

As I mentioned above, phytonutrient is not a necessity for our body, but yet we must eat much of it for all its health benefits. You get a variety of phytonutrient from a variety of fruits and vegetables for their different protections of diseases and cancers.

How much phytonutrient you need depends very much on your environment and your lifestyle. We cannot prevent the formation of free radicals but we can reduce them and minimize their destruction potential to our body.

If you think that you are in the high risk group, plan to increase your fruits and vegetables intake to counter the damaging effect.

Generally, take at least five servings (five cups) of high quality fruits and vegetables daily. If you are in the high risk group, take between eight to twelve servings.

This may sound like a lot but is easily achievable if you juice and make fruits and vegetables part of your daily diet, cutting down on meat, to a vegetables and meat ratio of 5:1. If you have to take meat, opt for fish instead.

Decide to make this new dietary a lifelong commitment, especially if you are eating to reverse a certain condition. You will definitely see an improvement.