Celebrate life and your commitment to better health by using foods that provide extra benefits beyond their content of vitamins, minerals, fiber, protein and carbohydrate

 

Summary: In this article, Dr Vasquez stresses the importance of the health-promoting and anti-inflammatory actions of "phytochemicals", also called "phytonutrients."  Given that the word "phyto" means plant, phytonutrients are chemicals from plants that can have an important impact on your health and well-being. 

 

 

Phytochemicals and phytonutrients are the so-called "non-nutritional" components of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, berries, and teas.  In this context, non-nutritional means that we are not talking about the classic components of nutrition such as protein, fats, carbohydrates, fiber, vitamins or minerals.  Instead we are talking about chemicals from plants that are not protein, fat, carbohydrates, fiber, vitamins or minerals but instead are non-nutritional chemicals that can affect physiologic function.  Physiologic processes of phytonutrients include these examples:

   1) influencing the tone of muscles within artery walls (for example, the flavonoids in chocolate help relax stiff arterial walls so that blood can flow more easily),

   2) helping to protect the liver from chemical injury (for example the flavonoid silybum from the herb milk thistle (Silymarin marianum) has been shown in animals and human studies to help protect liver cells),

   3) inhibiting an intracellular messenger called "NF-kappa-B" which is involved in conditions of excess inflammation such as rheumatoid arthritis (for example green tea),

   4) blocking enzymes that promote pain and other disease processes such as cancer (a relatively recent example of this is the finding that olive oil contains a component that inhibits the cyclooxygenase (COX-1 and COX-2) enzymes, which catalyze the conversion of unhealthy fats into pro-inflammatory prostaglandins.

   Hopefully, these examples give you some ideas about how eating the right foods and drinking the right teas can have benefits that extend far beyond their content of protein, fats, carbohydrates, fiber, vitamins or minerals.

 

To introduce this topic, I think the best approach is to dive right into some of the more important, clinically meaningful, and most easily available and practical examples of foods and phytochemicals.  Personally, I think this one of the most important and interesting areas of nutrition and clinical medicine that exists today.

 

WORK IN PROGRESS: an audio summary of this page will be available as a podcast after the final version is reviewed and completed

Olive oil

• Food source: Olive oil (Olea europaea)

• Most notable phytochemicals: a large group of phenolic antioxidants which provide the green color to the olive oil; oleocanthal and oleuropein provide anti-inflammatory and anti-viral benefits; the primary type of fat or fatty acid in olive oil is oleic acid--this is an omega-9 monounsaturated fatty acid that has anti-cancer and cardioprotective benefits; a minor constituent is a fatty acid called squalene, which also has antiinflammatory, anticancer, and cardioprotective benefits.

• Health benefits: Many large research studies published in major journals have shown that habitual consumption of olive oil is associated with reduced rates of hypertension, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and inflammatory diseases.  This must be due to the high levels of anti-inflammatory and antioxidant constituents in olive oil.  Notably, the oleocanthal in olive oil--the component responsible for the bitter taste and the burning or cough-provoking sensation--is a powerful anti-inflammatory agent with stronger activity than the anti-inflammatory drug ibuprofen; however, olive oil does not have the negative effects of ibuprofen. 

"Newly pressed extra-virgin olive oil contains oleocanthal — a compound whose pungency induces a strong stinging sensation in the throat, not unlike that caused by solutions of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug ibuprofen. We show here that this similar perception seems to be an indicator of a shared pharmacological activity, with oleocanthal acting as a natural anti-inflammatory compound that has a potency and profile strikingly similar to that of ibuprofen. Although structurally dissimilar, both these molecules inhibit the same cyclooxygenase enzymes in the prostaglandin-biosynthesis pathway."

 

Beauchamp GK, Keast RS, Morel D, Lin J, Pika J, Han Q, Lee CH, Smith AB, Breslin PA. Phytochemistry: ibuprofen-like activity in extra-virgin olive oil. Nature. 2005 Sep 1;437(7055):45-6

• Where to obtain: We carry premium organic olive oil.  

• Risks or potential adverse effects: No real risk assuming that olive oil is not overconsumed to the point of caloric excess and weight gain.

• Discussion: Olive oil should be part of nearly everyone's regular diet.

 

Garlic (Allium sativum)

• Food source: Garlic (Allium sativum)

• Most notable phytochemicals: Sulfur-containing volitile oil with allicin (responsible for the pungent odor), diallyl disulfide and others; also includes notable amounts of selenium.  Alliin in fresh garlic is converted by the enzyme alliinase into allicin; the alliinase enzyme is destroyed by cooking, and this fact explains why cooked garlic is less pungent and less health-promoting than fresh raw garlic.  Allicin is the best studied component of garlic; products are generally standardized for their allicin content: either 10 mg alliin (health benefits without the garlic ordor) or 4,000 mcg allicin (health benefits + odor).

• Health benefits: Garlic has been used as a health remedy for more than 5,000 years and is documented in Sanskrit records; the Chinese have used garlic for more than 3,000 years.  Garlic has anti-fungal and anti-bacterial actions and appears to provide benefits for cancer prevention.  The best documented benefits of garlic are related to the prevention of cardiovascular disease:

  • Garlic has been shown to reduce blood levels of cholesterol and triglycerides.

  • Garlic has been shown to reduce blood pressure in people with high blood pressure; in hypertensive patients, garlic lowers blood pressure by approximately -8/-7 which is an effect comparable to low-dose drug treatment for hypertension.

  • Garlic reduces platelet aggregation while also promoting fibrinolysis (dissolution of blood clots).

  • Garlic's alliin has been shown to reduce LDL oxidation in humans; this effect would be expected to impair the development of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease.

• Where to obtain: Garlic should be consumed as a food whenever possible; ideally, the form consumed would be fresh uncooked garlic crushed just before eating or chewed in the mouth; for people who find fresh raw garlic inconvenient or unacceptable due to the burning, taste or odor, a standardized garlic supplement (Garlitrin 4000, containing 5,000 mg allicin per tablet) providing the proper amount of active components can be consumed when fresh raw garlic is not available or not desirable.

• Risks or potential adverse effects: Adverse effects other than strong breath are unlikely with dietary garlic or one tablet per day of Garlitrin 4000.

• Discussion: Given garlic's well documented health-promoting benefits, it should be included as a regular part of dietary disease prevention.

Honey

• Food source: Honey

• Most notable phytochemicals: Numerous antioxidants

• Health benefits: Antioxidant benefits; a study in humans showed that honey consumption provided anti-inflammatory benefits as evidenced by laboratory blood markers.  Another study showed that honey consumption reduced blood levels of the antibody involved in allergies; this suggests that honey consumption might help people with allergies.  To obtain the drug-like or pharmacologic benefits of honey, approximately 1/4 cup needs to be consumed over the course of a day.

• Where to obtain: We carry honey in liquid, creamed/whipped, and an antioxidant honey.

• Risks or potential adverse effects: Honey can contain a specific bacteria that can cause problems for infants; thus infants should not be fed honey.

• Dr Vasquez's comment: I love honey in its various forms, and we carry honey in liquid, creamed/whipped, and an antioxidant honey. See my review article for more information about the anti-allergy and anti-inflammatory activities of honey.

 

Chocolate

• Food source: Chocolate/cocoa powder (Theobroma cacao); cultivated for thousands of years in South and Central America, currently most production comes from Africa as well as various other countries such as Belize; the word chocolate came into English from Spanish and entered Spanish feither rom the Aztecs ("chocolatl" or "chicolatl"), the Maya ("chokol")

• Most notable phytochemicals: alkaloids such as theobromine and phenethylamine, various antioxidants such as epicatechin

• Health benefits: Antioxidant benefits, likely to reduce the risk for cancer according to MD Anderson Cancer Center, clinical research studies have shown that chocolate can slightly reduce high blood pressure. Consuming milk chocolate or white chocolate, or drinking fat-containing milk with dark chocolate, appears largely to negate the health benefit.

• Where to obtain: Available from OptimalHealthNutrition.com as 85% Dark Chocolate and as sugar-free Organic Cocoa Baking Powder.

• Risks or potential adverse effects: Some people get "stimulated" from chocolate due to the caffeine-like effects; consumption at night might cause insomnia for some people.

• Discussion: Let's face it, chocolate is delicious and it helps prevent aging, heart disease, cancer, and other problems.  Research shows that it helps keep your skin and arteries healthy--thus it helps keep you young on the inside and on the outside.  Avoid forms of cocoa that have sugar, because none of us need the extra calories; besides, using cocoa that contains sugar neutralizes the health benefits of this powerful food!  Try this cocoa powder in our recipe for delicious green brownies and we hope that you'll love it!

Green tea

• Food source: Green tea (like all teas) comes from the plant Camellia sinensis

• Most notable phytochemicals: Green tea contains polyphenols especially catechins, the most abundant of which is epigallocatechin gallate (ECG).

• Health benefits: Anti-inflammatory, cardioprotective, anti-cancer benefits

• Where to obtain: We carry organic, fair-trade teas, including Chinese green tea, gunpowder green tea, and Jasmine tea.

• Risks or potential adverse effects: Too much tea might cause insomnia if consumed late in the day.

• Discussion: The December 2009 on-line edition of Focused on Health published by MD Anderson Cancer Center encourages green tea, dark chocolate, exercise, and increased fruit consumption to reduce the risk of developing cancer.  We wholeheartedly agree!

Foods such as the ones listed above are often called "functional foods" due to their health-promoting benefits that extend beyond their content of vitamins, minerals, fats, carbohydrates, and proteins.  Another term used in the medical research is "Polymeal" which means to habitually consume dietary items such as red wine, dark chocolate, olive oil, fresh fish, whey protein, vegetable concentrates so that the diet is loaded with food items that provide additional and synergistic benefits.

 

 

If you're interested in accessing a professional-level peer-reviewed article on this topic, the three-page article by Liu is reasonably accessible, is a quick read, and it's free.  I've provided access from this webpage; just click on the image below.  Now, will all due respect for Dr Liu and with appreciation for the concept and message that he is trying to communicate--ie, 1) that fruit and vegetable consumption is important and that it cannot be replaced by reliance on vitamins and minerals, and 2) that the synergism is important--not merely reliance on a single food or a single nutrient--I must also say that I don't agree with everything he says in the article.  For example, Dr Liu states that concentrated sources of individual phytonutrients should be avoided due to potential and mostly theoretical hazards; I think this is overly conservative to the point of being erroneous because his statement negates the research supporting phytonutrient concentrates from plants such as Ginkgo biloba ("ginkgo"), Silimarin marianum ("milk thistle"), and Glycyrrhiza glabra ("licorice").  Each of the plants I just mentioned is a rich source of one or a few phytochemicals which when taken in concentrated isolation has been proven to have major health benefits according to replicable clinical trials.

 

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