I had so much fun coming up with today’s post title, can you tell?  But now, of course, I have to explain what the heck I’m getting at. And no worries, I’m a woman of my word.  We’ll get there starting in small digestible bites.

The What

Have you ever heard that you need to “Eat the Rainbow” and then see a beautifully laid out image of an array of fruits and veggies that are Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, and Purple?  Well, if you haven’t, it’s lovely, so I’m showing you one here.  I’ve seen it lots of times over the years, but other than gleaning that I should eat a variety of fruits and veggies, I really didn’t understand why the rainbow.  Guys, I have some information for us.  It’s not ALL the information, because frankly, I’m a rabbit hole jumper of the nth degree and I just had to stop somewhere.  But here it goes…  it is phytochemicals.

The Why

Vitamins and Minerals are the bomb.  They help us grow and stay healthy.  I take extra Vitamin C when I think I’m coming down with a cold, Zinc when I have a cold to shorten its length, Vitamin E when I need to heal and Magnesium* to help my bowels move when they need a little push.  But there’s more than just these vitamins and minerals that keep us chugging along with gusto.  In fact, it’s because of phytochemicals that we should use FOOD to infuse our bodies with V&M, rather than relying on supplements.  Why FOOD IN ALL CAPS, you ask? Because food has phytochemicals in addition to the V&M, and they take out the trash.

Just the facts ma’am

There are elements in food called phytochemicals.  They give our food color and flavor.  They make our tomatoes RED (lycopene), our blueberries BLUE (resveratrol), and our carrots ORANGE (carotene).  They are also antioxidants – does that word sound familiar?  Antioxidants trigger the mechanism in our cells that remove toxins and waste.  They “take out the trash.”  Imagine for a moment if you never took out the trash at home.  Someone’s gotta take out the trash.

Why is that so important?  Cancer. Heart Disease. Stroke. Diabetes. Alzheimer’s.

When we don’t eat enough foods with varied phytochemicals, and I mean a variety of fruits and vegetables, our cells have a build-up of toxins and waste, and they don’t function properly.  When they don’t function properly, we have disease and malfunction.  The disease and malfunction can spread to neighboring cells. It’s then that our bodies suffer from cancer, heart disease, dementia, etc.  And it doesn’t happen overnight.  This can take years, which is why we don’t immediately feel the effects of cellular malfunction due to a deficiency of phytochemicals.

But the good news is that it takes very little time to turn it all around!  So by adding a regular variety of fruits and vegetables to your diet today, you are empowering your cells to clean house and function at their best ASAP.  Doing this can prevent disease, slow cancer growth, and get you chugging, chugging along beautifully for a longer, healthier life.

Two important notes: 

(1) Regeneratively produced fruits and vegetables, because of how the farmers cultivate the micro-universe of life in their soil, have MORE phytochemicals than conventional and even organic produce.  If you can’t find regenerative, the next best is growing your own or buying organic.

And how we farm offers a natural way to increase phytochemical levels in our food and thus the healthfulness of what ends up on our forks.

What Your Food Ate, Montgomery & Bilke

(2) If you suffer from a life-threatening disease like I mentioned above, please work with your doctor to treat your ailment.  Pairing good nutrition with medical treatment, though, has shown to be more impactful than just treatment alone. 

Let’s Jump Down the Rabbit Hole, Shall We?

Our Genes

There is a science called Epigenetics.  It’s the study of how our genes get activated.  For example, if you are genetically predisposed to get Type 2 diabetes or breast cancer, why aren’t the chances of you getting it 100%?  If you look into it, the chances might be 80% or 50%, but they are not 100%.  But why?  The answer is, if we live in a way that doesn’t activate those genes, we can avoid the disease.  Epigenetics is the study of how our environment and how we live impact our genes.   

It is your lifestyle washing over your genes that determines who you are in any moment. 

– Dr. Mark Hyman

One thing that’s been discovered in recent years is that phytochemicals in the food we eat can influence our genes.  There is a molecule in our body called Nrf2 or “Nerf two.”  Nrf2 is the manager of the cleaning crew.  But it can’t get into a cell to activate the cleaning crew unless a phytochemical unlocks the door.  Once it does, Nrf2 enters our cells and turns on genes in the nucleus that help control inflammation, activate immune cells to remove waste, kick out pathogens, and create pathways for the waste to move on out.  The waste is often called “free radicals” or “oxidation.”  The phytochemicals are therefore coined “antioxidants.”  Some vitamins act as antioxidants too, but they don’t all act in the same way.

That’s the end of my knowledge on this, folks, but it’s pretty cool, right?  Now here are a few examples of the different phytochemicals, where you can find them, and what they do for us.

Examples of Phytochemicals in Food

Genistein – Soybeans contain this phytochemical (it’s a polyphenol) and it helps prevent cancer.  It blocks signals that tumor cells send to get more fuel to grow.

Resveratrol – Blueberries contain this phytochemical (also a polyphenol).  It is an anti-inflammatory, enhances the defenses of healthy cells, and is even known to promote the death of tumor cells.  There is also evidence that it can help prevent or slow heart disease and diabetes.

Quercetin – is in tea, onions, grapes, cherries, broccoli, cauliflower, and citrus (a flavonoid).  It can help with metabolic disorders, reduce the risk of prostate cancer, and can reduce blood pressure.

Beta Carotene – is in carrots and other orange foods.  They can keep our eyes healthy, reduce skin damage from the sun, and have been found to slow lung cancer growth. 

Lycopene – is in tomatoes, pink grapefruit, and watermelon. It has an exhaustive list of benefits including reducing sunburn, cancer, heart disease, and more.  This one seems to be a powerhouse!

If you’re already eating some of these foods – you’re doing great!  Try to get to 8 servings a day of organic or regenerative fruits and vegetables (mostly the latter).  And mix it up!  Eat the rainbow so it can take out the trash!

Ninety percent of our current health is controlled by the environment in which we bathe our genes – the food we eat, our exercise regimen, our resilience in the face of stress and our exposure to environmental toxins. You don’t have to sit back and accept that you’re doomed to become fat and sick.

https://drhyman.com/blog/2017/06/23/diet-influences-genes/

What You Can Do

1. Eat the Rainbow and mix it up so you’re eating a variety of colorful foods.  Have carrots one week and orange peppers the next.  Have tomato sauce in your dinner and watermelon for dessert!
2. Add instead of remove – I find that rather than restricting what I eat, I add healthy foods I like.  I find that when I do that, I just naturally gravitate away from the food I’m trying to avoid and toward those I’ve added.  For example, I love strawberries and kiwi.  So, one night I planned to have some after dinner, and then I didn’t crave the cookies in the cabinet. But if I still wanted one, I would have had it.  I would have just likely only wanted one, if any, because I had already satisfied my sweet tooth.  Make sense?
3. Drip Irrigation – Don’t pick one meal or one day to load up on the good stuff.  Our bodies need a steady supply, like water provided to plants through drip irrigation.  I loved this metaphor from the book, What Your Food Ate.
4. Keep learning.  If any of this pique’s your interest, there are podcasts, books, and websites that are full of great information about these gems.  Healthline is a great website.  The Doctor’s Farmacy is a fantastic podcast.  What Your Food Ate is clearly a book I’ve pulled some great information from – check it out!

*Magnesium – I take two forms of magnesium daily. One aides in digestion and the other is great for muscle cramps, sleep and heart health. If you are interested in adding a supplement to your diet, ask for advice from your doctor first.