All Videos for Phytonutrients

Why Was Heart Disease Rare in the Mediterranean?

What was it about the diet on the Greek isle of Crete in the 1950s that made it so healthy?



Flaxseeds for Hypertension

Extraordinary results reported in a rare example of a double-blinded, placebo-controlled, randomized trial of a dietary intervention (flaxseeds) to combat one of our leading killers, high blood pressure.



Preventing Alzheimer’s Disease with Plants

If foods like berries and dark green leafy vegetables have been found protective against cognitive decline, why aren’t they recognized as such in many guidelines?



Can Diet Protect Against Kidney Cancer?

Plant-based diets appear to protect against renal cell carcinoma both directly and indirectly.



Coffee and Artery Function

The new dietary guidelines for beverages recommend tea and coffee second only to water in healthfulness, but what about concerns they might impair the function of our endothelium?



If Fructose Is Bad, What About Fruit?

Does the fructose naturally found in fruit and fruit juice have the same adverse effects as excess “industrial fructose” (table sugar and high fructose corn syrup) and if not, why not?



Juicing Removes More than Just Fiber

The majority of polyphenol phytonutrients may be bound to fiber, helping to explain the marked difference in health impacts between whole fruit and fruit juice.



Is There Too Much Aluminum in Tea?

The tea plant concentrates aluminum from the soil into tea leaves, but phytonutrients in tea bind to the metal and limit its absorption.



Cooked Beans or Sprouted Beans?

How do canned versus germinated beans (such as sprouted lentils) compare when it comes to protecting brain cells and destroying melanoma, kidney, and breast cancer cells.



Does Cholesterol Size Matter?

How do American Egg Board arguments hold up to scientific scrutiny, such as the concept that large fluffy LDL cholesterol is protective compared to small, dense LDL?



Telomeres: Cap It All Off with Diet

Is the reversal of cellular aging Dr. Dean Ornish demonstrated with lifestyle changes due to the plant-based diet, the exercise or just to the associated weight loss?



Beans, Beans, They’re Good for Your Heart

Legumes such as lentils, chickpeas, beans and split peas may reduce cholesterol so much that consumers may be able to get off their cholesterol-lowering statin drugs, but to profoundly alter heart disease risk we may have to more profoundly alter our diet.



What’s the Best Mouthwash?

There’s a cheap concoction one can make at home that safely wipes out cavity-forming bacteria on our teeth better than chlorhexidine mouthwash and also reduces their plaque-forming ability.



Which Vegetable Binds Bile Best?

Which foods are best at removing carcinogenic bile acids from the body: asparagus, beets, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, collards, eggplant, green beans, kale, mustard greens, okra, or peppers? And do they work better raw or cooked?



Dark Chocolate and Artery Function

What do studies not funded by the chocolate industry show about the effect of cocoa on arterial health?



Broccoli: Sprouts vs. Supplements

Broccoli sprouts are compared to “Broccomax” supplements.



Turmeric Curcumin & Colon Cancer

What role might the spice turmeric play in both the prevention of precancerous polyps, and the treatment of colorectal cancer?



Watermelon for Sore Muscle Relief

Watermelon found to reduce muscle soreness after an intense workout—without the gut leakiness that occurs within hours of taking anti-inflammatory drugs, like ibuprofen.



Anti-Inflammatory Life Is a Bowl of Cherries

Sweet red Bing cherries may act as a selective COX-2 inhibitor, reducing inflammation without the damage to our stomach and gut lining caused by NSAID drugs like ibuprofen.



Do Vegetarians Get Enough Protein?

Nutritional quality indices show plant-based diets are the healthiest, but do vegetarians and vegans reach the recommended daily intake of protein?



Fruits, Veggies, and Longevity: How Many Minutes Per Mouthful?

The first study to gauge how much longer we live based on the number of fruits and vegetables we eat suggests that a daily salad could add years to our lifespan.



Plants as Intellectual Property – Patently Wrong?

Barriers to patent natural commodities, such as the spice turmeric, keeps prices low—but if no one profits, where is the research funding going to come from?



Xenohormesis: What Doesn’t Kill Plants May Make Us Stronger

A new concept in biology tries to explain why the consumption of certain natural compounds in plants may mimic the lifespan-enhancing benefits of caloric restriction.



Appropriating Plant Defenses

Plants and animals share similar biochemical pathways and signaling systems, which may explain why so many phytonutrients are beneficial to our physiology.



Treating Asthma with Plants vs. Supplements?

Whole fruits and vegetables were compared to both antioxidant pills, as well as supplements containing fruits and vegetable extracts, for their ability to treat seasonal allergies, improve lung function, and control asthma.



Treating Asthma with Fruits and Vegetables

Increasing fruit and vegetable consumption to seven servings a day appears to cut asthma exacerbation rates in half, whereas restricting consumption to Standard American Diet levels leads to a significant worsening of lung function and asthma control.



How to Slow Brain Aging by Two Years

The consumption of blueberries and strawberries is associated with delayed cognitive aging by as much as 2.5 years—thought to be because of brain-localizing anthocyanin phytonutrients, as shown on functional MRI scans.



Turmeric Curcumin and Osteoarthritis

The yellow pigment curcumin in the spice turmeric may work as well as, or better than, anti-inflammatory drugs and painkillers for the treatment of knee osteoarthritis.



Dietary Treatment of Glaucoma

Blueberries may help protect against age-related macular degeneration, and black currants may help halt the progression of glaucoma.



Dietary Prevention of Age-Related Macular Degeneration

Yellow plant pigments, such as lutein and zeaxanthin, build up in the back of our eyes to protect our retinas against age-related macular degeneration. Levels of these eyesight–saving nutrients in organic free-range eggs, vegetables, and goji berries are compared.



Greens vs. Glaucoma

Kale and collard greens contain vision-protecting plant nutrients, such as zeaxanthin, that may significantly lower the risk of glaucoma—a leading cause of blindness.



Antioxidant-Rich Foods with Every Meal

To stay out of oxidative debt, we need to take in more antioxidants than we use up.



Minimum “Recommended Daily Allowance” of Antioxidants

How many antioxidant-rich foods do we need to eat every day just to stay out of oxidative debt?



Counteracting the Effects of Dioxins Through Diet

Phytonutrients in certain plant foods may block the toxic effects of industrial pollutants, like dioxins, through the Ah receptor system.



The Broccoli Receptor: Our First Line of Defense

There is a receptor in our intestines activated by phytonutrients in cruciferous vegetables that boosts immune function (the aryl hydrocarbon [Ah] receptor).



BRCA Breast Cancer Genes and Soy

One reason why soy consumption is associated with improved survival and lower recurrence rates in breast cancer patients may be because soy phytonutrients appear to improve the expression of tumor-suppressing BRCA genes.



Eating Better to Look Better

Public health campaigns can use vanity to improve fruit and vegetable consumption, since experiments show carotenoid phytonutrients improve the physical attractiveness of African, Asian, and Caucasian faces.



Which Seaweed Is Most Protective Against Breast Cancer?

Nori seaweed snacks may favorably alter estrogen metabolism by modulating women’s gut flora, resulting in decreased breast cancer risk.



Reducing Muscle Soreness with Berries

Anti-inflammatory phytonutrients in berries may explain why cherries can speed recovery after a marathon—by reducing muscle pain in long-distance runners.



Reducing Muscle Fatigue with Citrus

Daily citrus fruit consumption during athletic training may reduce muscle fatigue, as evidenced by lower blood lactate concentrations.