Bradley J. Willcox, M.D., D. Craig Willcox, Ph.D., Makoto Suzuki, M.D.
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 Millet—and, in fact, all whole grains—contains high amounts of fiber and phytochemicals such as lignans, phenolic acids, and phytosterols, which help lower cholesterol, improve sensitivity to insulin, and help prevent colon cancer. Millet is also gluten-free, which makes it a valuable substitute for people with wheat allergies.
How to use it. Millet has a mild flavor that lends itself well as a background to seasonings. It's prepared like rice by boiling in water and is used to make hot cereal and dishes like pilaf. Ground millet is used as flour to make puddings, breads, and cakes. |
Mark Hyman, M.D.
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 Include a few servings of low-sugar fruits in your daily diet (berries have the highest content of fiber and other protective phytochemicals).
• Add one or two handfuls of nuts, such as almonds, walnuts, pecans, or hazelnuts, to your diet every day.
• Consider a good fiber supplement that contains soluble and insoluble fibers. Or think about taking unsweetened psyllium seed husks—take one or two tablespoons a day, and be sure to wash it down with plenty of water.
• Start slowly. Switching abruptly to a high-fiber diet can cause gas and bloating. |
Gary Null
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| Also, you want to drink lots of berry juices, because all the berries—raspberries, cherries, blueberries, cranberries, and blackberries—taken in a 16 oz juice every morning, are very rich in phytochemicals and low in calories. In addition, watermelon juice is wonderfully healthy!
Other supplements to discuss with your health care practitioner include vitamin E (400 to 800 units); primrose oil (500 mg); pantothenic acid (500 mg); and boron (3 mg). |
Brenda Davis and Tom Barnard
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 A special group of phytochemicals, called phytoestrogens or plant estrogens, attach to estrogen receptor sites, but are only about 0.1 to 0.2 percent as potent as the primary human form of estrogen, estradiol. When estrogen levels are high, phytoestrogens may reduce the harmful effects of human estrogen by binding to receptor sites, crowding out human estrogen. There is some evidence this action may protect against hormone-related cancers. |
| Unfortunately, when we extract the oil from a plant (leaving behind the vitamins, minerals, fiber, and phytochemicals), then force hydrogen into the oil to turn it into a solid fat, we are far removed from the original soybean or corn kernel, and from any healthful properties they may have once had. As a final blow, this process of hydrogenation changes the configuration of some of the nutritious unsaturated fats in the oil to a damaging form called "trans fatty acids." These fats are often completely ignored on food labels and are truly a hidden menace to health. |
Kenny Ausubel
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 There are ten thousand phytochemicals in a carrot. What's doing what? In each of the Hoxsey herbs, there are another ten thousand phytochemicals.
"Carbon-based life-forms are very, very intricate, so the molecular mechanisms are very, very deceptive and not at all what they seem to be. Also, we are rapidly reaching the point where we have to confess that we are moving from the realm of chemistry into a marriage of chemistry and particle physics to explain how things stay alive. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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 Clearly, there are miraculous phytochemicals just waiting to be discovered and leveraged for the healing of chronic disease. Yet biomimetics is really more about the physics of nature rather than the chemistry. Using biomimetics, scientists have created temperature-sensing clothing materials that mimic the adaptation response of pinecones. They've also studied the aerodynamics of insect wings to gain insight into advances for machine-powered flight. Biomimetics is promising, fascinating, and essentially free. Nature has already conducted the research over the last few million years! |
Bradley J. Willcox, M.D., D. Craig Willcox, Ph.D., Makoto Suzuki, M.D.
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| But you have to be smart here too, because a diet based on cheese pizza, corn chips, French fries, white bread, sodas, white rice, sugared cereals, and cookies could technically be considered a plant-based diet, even though these refined and processed foods contain mostly empty calories and are deficient in vitamins, minerals, fiber, phytochemicals, and everything else that's good for you. They're also very high in caloric density. You'd not only gain weight in a New York minute eating those kinds of foods, but your health would take a nosedive while you were at it. |
Gary Null
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| Berries are rich in the types of phytochemicals that help rebalance your lipid profile and your hormone levels. They also have a rejuvenating effect as they help repair damage to our DNA and enhance enzyme activity. The powerful living energy of these fruits, which are low in calories, is extremely beneficial to the body.
It is my experience that a high-quality juicing program with a great variety of vegetables and fruits, taken gradually from smaller to larger amounts over a period of time, is the best single thing we can do to cleanse and rejuvenate. |
Patrick Holford
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 Eat a multicolored variety of foods, as each natural color contains different heaLth-promoting phytochemicals.
• Eat whole foods, rather than refined or processed foods full of artificial chemicals.
• Eat as much raw food as possible. Steam food where you can, and fry as little as possible.
• Wherever possible, buy organic food. If this is not possible, peel or throw away outer leaves and wash to reduce pesticide residues.
• Buy fresh foods when you need them, rather than buying ahead and storing them. The longer you keep them, the more their nutrients are destroyed. |
Gary Null
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| A review study by Meydani found "further support for the consumption of fruit and vegetables, which contain several forms of phytochemicals with antioxidant activity, in order to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer, the leading causes of morbidity and mortality among the elderly."45
Bonnefoy et al, in their article on antioxidants to slow aging, say that epidemiological data suggest that antioxidants may have a beneficial effect on many age-related diseases, including cancer. |
Brenda Davis and Tom Barnard
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| It provides energy, supplies insulation, protects vital organs, provides physical padding, and is necessary for the absorption of many vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals. Specific types of fat are also required for the formation of healthy cell membranes and the maintenance of cell integrity, permeability, shape, and flexibility. They are critical to the development and functioning of the brain and nervous system, and are involved in the production of hormonelike substances called eicosanoids, which regulate many organ systems. |
Gayle Reichler, M.S., R.D., C.D.N.
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 Many fruits and vegetables also contain phytochemicals, plant compounds that appear to have the ability to enhance the immune system and protect against cancer and heart disease. The most common fruits and vegetables that contain phytochemicals include, citrus, garlic, onions, tomatoes, broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, kale, and carrots.
Fruits and vegetables are also naturally low in fat and high in fiber. The additional fiber adds bulk to your diet, which is good for intestinal health and helps lower cholesterol levels. |
Brenda Davis and Tom Barnard
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| A healthful breakfast provides about a quarter of your daily nutrient needs and a generous portion of fiber and phytochemicals. By selecting a variety of foods from the plant-based food guide on pages 100-109, it's hard to go wrong. Breakfast is probably the easiest meal for incorporating intact whole grains. (See the recipe on page 203. While this combination of grains may be new to you, if you like hot cereals, you will love this one.) If using processed breads and cereals, select those made with only whole grains. Include a good source of vitamin C and other antioxidant nutrients. |
Glenn W. Geelhoed, M.D. and Jean Barilla, M.S.
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 Strawberries Strawberries — and grapes — are especially good sources of two phytochemicals (ellagic acid and phenethyle isothiocyanate) which have been found effective in preventing and treating cancer of the esophagus by prohibiting cells from becoming cancerous when exposed to a cancer-causing chemical. tomato Nitrosamines are by-products of our digestive process that have been proven to cause cancer. But two phytochemicals found in tomatoes (p-coumaric and chlorogenic acid) can prevent the formation of nitrosamines. |
Gary Null
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| First, we should focus on juicing. The phytochemicals in the organic juices help heal because they rejuvenate the cell and repair the damage done to the DNA. Some beneficial juices include: pineapple (especially good with juiced alfalfa sprouts); a combination of aloe vera, star fruit, and cabbage juices; cucumber juice; fresh apricot juice; and cantaloupe juice. Ginger has been known for a very long time for its anti-inflammatory nature and should be added to many juices.
An important goal with arthritis is to eliminate anything that is creating uric acid. |
Dr. Vern Cherewatenko and Paul Perry
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 In animal studies, mice fed a diet of such food components as starch, protein, vitamins, and minerals were more likely to develop liver tumors than those fed whole foods. phytochemicals are believed to act at three different points to prevent cancer—they seem to prevent cancer-causing substances from forming, boost the activity of blocking agent enzymes, and suppress precancerous activity.
Phiytochemical Profiles
To date, researchers have identified only a handful of what are believed to be hundreds of phytochemicals. The existence and action of the remaining ones are still to be revealed. |
David Hoffman, FNIMH, AHG
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 Actions of Flavonoids
• Antioxidant
• Hypoglycemic
• Stabilize capillary permeability
• Anti-inflammatory
• Immunomodulatory
• Antihepatotoxic
• Antineoplastic
• Hypotensive
• Regenerate connective tissue
• Sedative
• Regulate cardiac function
• Weakly estrogenic
• Antimicrobial
• Antispasmodic
• Diuretic
• Cholagogue
Because these ubiquitous phytochemicals have a gentle impact on a whole range of organs, tissues, and physiological processes, they are sometimes described as biological response modifiers. |
| As the first product of photosynthesis, carbohydrates are the starting point for all phytochemicals, and also, by extension, for all animal biochemicals. More carbohydrates occur in nature than any other type of natural compound. The most abundant single organic substance on Earth is cellulose, a polymer of glucose, which is the main structural material of plants. |
| IMMUNOMODULATORS
A wide range of plants and phytochemicals appears to impact the functioning of the immune system. There is still far too little research in this area to allow broad generalization, but this should not be taken to mean that the herbs themselves lack value as immunomodulatory agents.
In a comprehensive review, Wagner and Proksch grouped identified immunostimulant constituents according to whether they are high- or low-molecular-weight compounds.50
Low-Molecular-Weight Compounds
A range of low-molecular-weight plant constituents have been shown to be immunomodulators. |
| A wide variety of phytochemicals are cytotoxic. For example, many cytotoxic alkaloids have been described, including aconitine, acronycine, bisindole, camptothecine, colchicine, ellipticine, emetine, maytansine, and pyrrolidines, as well as alkaloids from Taxus. Other secondary metabolites demonstrating cytotoxicity include cardenolides, coumarins, coumarolignans, diterpenes, flavonoids, iri-doids, lignans, monoterpenes, quinones, sesquiterpenes, sesquiterpene lactones, and saponins. |
| See chapter 9 for more information on the pharmacological effects of this important group of phytochemicals.
A Look at the Evidence
Because of its positive impact on cardiac function, hawthorn extract has been extensively studied for its effects in congestive heart failure. A commonly used classification of heart failure is that formulated by the New York Heart Association (NYHA).7
Table 14.2. New York Heart Association Functional Classification of Heart Failure
CLASSIFICATION DEFINITION
Class I No limitation of physical activity
Class II Slight limitation of physical activity. |
| The discussion of other phytochemicals focuses on the three main groups of secondary metabolites: terpenes, polyphenols, and alkaloids. These are pivotal to any chemistry-based understanding of herb activity. Bear in mind, however, that it is not always possible to identify the chemical mechanisms that explain the actions of herbs. This should not be interpreted to mean that the herbs in question do not work, but rather implies a lack of research. In turn, lack of research on a plant usually implies that no one has received a research grant! |
Patrick Holford
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| The use of cold-pressed olive oil, which contains tiny amounts of phytochemicals, also results in fewer trans fats (see page 78) being consumed.
Cook with coconut butter or olive oil
While I've extolled the virtues of the essential polyunsaturated fats in seed and fish oils, these highly active nutrients are very prone to damage and hence are not good for high-temperature cooking such as frying. If you do fry, saute, or bake foods, it is best not to use polyunsaturated fats because these generate oxidizing free radicals. |
Patricia Bragg and Paul C. Bragg
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 The winner is tomatoes, which alone contain about 10,000 different phytochemicals!
Doctor PfflsOuDO
Fasting is accepted and recognized as being the oldest form of therapy. It is mentioned 74 times in the Bible. It is the universal therapy even used by sick animals in the wilds the world over. As we study the ancient healers of the world, we find that fasting heads the list for helping Mother Nature heal the sick and the wounded.
There is a misconception about fasting that must be clarified. It must be definitely and positively stated that fasting is not a cure for any disease or ailment. |
Steven G. Pratt, M.D. and Kathy Matthews
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 It's not just one particular phytonutrient in a food that makes the difference; it also seems that fiber, vitamins, minerals, and other substances in that food also enhance and regulate the actions of the phytochemicals.
What About Organic Foods?
There's no question that organic foods are better for the environment and thus for all creatures (including us) in that environment because they reduce the threat of pesticides. But are they better from a nutrient standpoint? This is a developing story. |
Dr. Vern Cherewatenko and Paul Perry
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| The existence and action of the remaining ones are still to be revealed. Some phytochemicals may hunt down free radicals, preventing LDL cholesterol from oxidizing and reducing the risk of heart disease and cancer. Here are just a few of the known phytochemicals, food sources, and believed roles in disease prevention.
• Ellagic acid. Common in grapes, strawberries, raspberries, and walnuts, this phytochemical appears to remove cancer-causing agents from the bloodstream.
• Flavonoids. |
Dianne Onstad
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 Dithiolthiones phytochemicals that boost levels of enzymes that stop carcinogens from damaging cells. They're found in abundance in broccoli.
Diuretic An agent that increases the secretion and discharge of urine. Notable herbs are dandelion, juniper berries, and lemon juice.
Dysentery An inflammation of the colon marked by intense diarrhea with the passage of small amounts of mucus and blood, usually caused by pathogenic bacteria or protozoans.
Dyspepsia A condition of disturbed digestion characterized by nausea, heartburn, pain, and gas. |
| Allyl sulfides phytochemicals that stimulate levels of glutathione S-transferase, one of the primary detoxification enzymes. They're found in garlic, onions, leeks, and chives.
Amino acids The chief components of proteins, synthesized by living cells or obtained as essential components of the diet. They are made up of nitrogen-containing compounds attached to acids. Eight (some say nine) of the amino acids must be provided by the diet, since the body is not able to manufacture them; hence they are termed "essential. |
Andrew L. Stoll
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 This is probably because plants contain other useful phytochemicals beyond the known antioxidants that we have identified. Many of these phytochemicals appear to work syner-gistically with each other, but have not been well studied.
By using foods to obtain needed substances, we are absorbing many different and powerful types of antioxidants, such as ly-copene and rosmarnic acid. Vitamin E in the form of gamma-tocopherol is found in soybeans and nuts. Foods that are deeply pigmented contain flavonoids, which are water-soluble and often highly colored antioxidants. |
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