It’s hard to believe but one of the ways to help prevent certain cancers relies on the compounds found in a number of plants that are known to have antioxidant properties. These compounds are found in plants they are called phytonutrients which work in conjunction with nutrients found in the human body to combat disease. To date, scientists have managed to index almost a 1,000 of these beneficial compounds; huge advances in preventative health care and nutrition are advancing at an almost daily rate. Recent studies have indicated that phytonutrients found in fruit provide a whole host of natural health benefits; pomegranates for example, contain many different properties and blueberries have compounds which slow the aging process.

Containing many different antioxidants, blueberries also have one of the lowest sugar contents of the fruits tested. Currently the most efficient and pleasurable way to get the benefits of these fruits is by drinking their juice; some of the many benefits have been improvements in the body’s capacity to heal itself and benefits to circulation. These can also strengthen the body’s ability to fight disease and infection due to they’re powerful antioxidants and healthy nutrients. The health benefits of apples are now being researched with a reduced chance of coronary disease being one of these.

Even lemons and other citrus fruits are proving very capable at providing useful phytochemicals of their own. The particular combination of properties found in tart cherries offers an anti-inflammatory benefit, which is appreciated by those suffering from joint pain caused by arthritis, gout, fibromyalgia or over-exertion. Of course these fruits contain large amounts of vitamins B, C and E plus other which are already known to have beneficial effects on our health. A large group of common berries also contain specialized antioxidants called Phytoalexins (resveratrol); these have anti-viral and anti-fungal properties that can be of benefit to people.

Some of the most common aging conditions including Alzheimer’s disease, strokes, high blood pressure, and heart attack can all be helped by these compounds. Nutrients contained in tomatoes have also been recognized to reduce the incidents of heart disease and help ward of certain cancers. Using concentrated tomato in the form of puree, sauce and juice is an even more efficient way of increasing intake of this fruit. More recently the refreshing watermelon has been discovered to contain some of the most beneficial phytonutrients yet seen. We are told to eat more fruit and now there is a very good scientific reason to do this.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 21st, 2008 at 5:46 pm and is filed under Your Diet. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.