The Hidden Healthy Power inPlants
Comingto light, finally, are an incredible set of nutrients found in plants that arebecoming more understood as a powerful subset apart from the vitamins andminerals present in plants, having incredible bioactivity in our bodies enhancingthe wellness we receive from eating plants or supplementing with plant based,naturally occurring, non synthetic vitamins. You will never find these powerfulingredients in synthetic vitamins or processed foods fortified with syntheticvitamins!
The study of phytochemicals has become moreintense over the last decade. Phytochemicals, which include polyphenols, arepresent in plants, grains, fruits, bark, roots, stems, flowers, tea, wineand vegetables. Flavonoids arenatural polyphenols produced by plants that can be further categorized intoanthocyanidins, flavanols, flavanones, flavonols, flavones, and isoflavones(4,5). The beneficial properties attributed to plant flavonoids includeantioxidant, anti-inflammatory, neuroprotective, anti-carcinogenic and freeradical scavenging.
This isa highlight of a few of the multitude of phytonutrients. The sourceshighlighted are used in Mountain Rescue Nutrients:
Flavonoid: Kaempferoll(Flavonol)
Source: Tea, moringa, spinach, kale,dill, chives, tarragon
Benefits:
antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial,anticancer, cardio protective, neuro protective, antidiabetic, antiosteoporotic, estrogenic/antiestrogenic,anxiolytic, analgesic, and antiallergic activities, apoptosis programed cell death (1)
Flavonoid: Luteolin (Flavone)
Source: Celery, parsley,broccoli, onion leaves, carrots, peppers, cabbages, apple skins, andchrysanthemum flowers
Benefits:
anti-carcinogenic, antioxidant,and anti-inflammatory (1,2)
Flavonoid: Apigenin (Flavone)
Source: parsley, chamomile, celery, vine-spinach,artichokes, and oregano
Benefits:
anti-inflammatory, antioxidantand anticancer properties(6)
Flavonoid: Tangeretin (Flavone)
Source: Peel of citrus fruits, orange
Benefits:
Lowering cholesterol,anti-tumor activity and neuroprotective action(7)
Flavonoid: Nobiletin (Flavone)
Source: Citrus fruits, orange
Benefits:
neuroprotection, cardiovascularprotection, antimetabolic disorder, anticancer, anti-inflammation, andantioxidation (8,9)
Flavonoid: Quercetin (Flavonol)
Source: Green tea, grapes, berries, tomatoes, onions, apples
Benefits:
Antiviral, anti-inflammatory, anti-carcinogenic,antioxidant(10,11)
As you see from this small sample ofphytonutrients they have so many benefits that can’t be overlooked. As researchcontinues more co-factors of vitamins, naturally occurring in plants will bediscovered. With knowledge of their existence, understanding the power theyhave to improve your health, the importance of eating organic fruits andvegetables whenever possible should be clear. When you can’t eat properly, usingresponsibly sourced, organic plant-based vitamins as a supplement must be apriority.
Lets be clear here, 98% of vitaminson store shelves are synthetic, made in a lab, mostly from china, and will notcontain any phytonutrients let alone the vitamins and minerals found in nature.
Processed foods are stripped of thenatural nutrients including vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients making themhollow of any goodness. Food companies “fortify” the processed foods withsynthetic vitamins trying to replace what they ravaged during processing. Don’tbe fooled, the synthetic vitamins in no way replace natural ones that arecontained in unprocessed fruits and vegetables.
When shopping grab for the colorfulfruits and vegetables and some of your favorite herbs and legumes. Red wineeven has phytonutrients so don’t be afraid of a nice glass with your meal.
Don’t destroy your health, immunesystem and your overall well being eating processed, nutrient negative foods! Feedyour amazing bodies with the utmost care, you will feel a difference!
In the 30s & 40s Dr Royal Lee (fatherof holistic nutrition) understood the importance of these co-factors and themultiple molecules involved in the function of the whole vitamin. Dr. Leebelieved the simple fact: “vitamins are not single chemicals, butrather they are complex groups of interdependent compounds that can be madeonly by living organisms. A true vitamin, Dr. Lee insisted, is a biological mechanism that can beobtained only from whole, unprocessed foods. This principle—that vitaminsare the result of life and their functions are far too complex to be reproducedby human beings” (12)
“In nature a vitamin isn’t a single molecule but rather apart of a family of molecules” (12)
I’ll explore furtherthe life of Dr Royal Lee in a future article.
At Mountain RescueNutrients we use only the finest nutrient packed organic plants and concentratetheir goodness only using water.
Cheers,
Steve (Oly) Olson
Founder/ManagingPartner
Mountain RescueNutrients
MrNutrients.com
Certified NutritionCoach
Autoimmune Researcher
Sources:
(1)https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/kaempferol
(2)Molnár et al., 1981; Selvi et al., 2015; Xia et al., 2016
(3)https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/pharmacology-toxicology-and-pharmaceutical-science/luteolin
(4)Polyphenols: food sources andbioavailability.Manach C, Scalbert A,Morand C, Rémésy C, Jiménez LAm J Clin Nutr. 2004 May; 79(5):727-47.
(5)Nutritionally improved agriculturalcrops.Newell-McGloughlin MPlant Physiol. 2008 Jul; 147(3):939-53.
(6)https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2874462/
(8)https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5059563/
(9)Citrus nobiletin suppressesinducible nitric oxide synthase gene expression in interleukin-1β-treatedhepatocytes.Yoshigai E, Machida T, Okuyama T, Mori M,Murase H, Yamanishi R, Okumura T, Ikeya Y, Nishino H, Nishizawa MBiochemBiophys Res Commun. 2013 Sep 13; 439(1):54-9
(10)https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsomega.0c01818