All Videos for Phytonutrients

Keeping Your Hands Warm with Citrus

Phytonutrients in citrus, such as hesperidin, may increase blood flow sufficient to warm the hands and feet of those with cold sensitivity.



Tart Cherries for Insomnia

The melatonin content in certain plant foods such as almonds, raspberries, and goji berries may explain the improvement in sleep quality associated with tart cherry consumption.



Fighting the Blues with Greens?

Natural monoamine oxidase enzyme inhibitors in fruits and vegetables may help explain the improvement in mood associated with switching to a plant-based diet.



Anti-Angiogenesis: Cutting Off Tumor Supply Lines

Cancer cells are commonly present in the body, but cannot grow into tumors without hooking up a blood supply. Angiogenesis inhibitors in plant foods may help prevent this from happening.



Why Might Vegetarians Have Less HPV?

Most young women get infected with human papilloma virus, the cause of cervical cancer, but most are able to clear the infection before the virus causes cancer. What dietary changes can improve viral clearance?



Male Fertility & Diet

Dioxins, endocrine disrupting pollutants, heavy metals, saturated fat, and steroids in the meat supply may be affecting sperm counts, semen quality, and the ability of men to conceive.



Reducing Radiation Damage with Ginger & Lemon Balm

A component of cooked ginger root protects human white blood cells in vitro against radiation-induced genetic damage, and lemon balm tea appears to protect radiology staff against radiation-induced oxidative stress.



Mediating Radiation Exposure from Airline Travel

Based on studies of atomic bomb survivors, Chernobyl victims, and airline pilots exposed to more cosmic rays at high altitudes, it appears that fruits and vegetables may decrease radiation-induced chromosome damage.



Childhood Tea Drinking May Increase Fluorosis Risk

Green tea consumption may help prevent cavities, but excessive consumption among young children may lead to dental fluorosis, due to the natural fluoride content of the plant.



Can Cranberry Juice Treat Bladder Infections?

Cranberries may reduce the recurrence of urinary tract infections, but their role in treating infections is limited.



Bacterial Vaginosis and Diet

A more plant-based diet may help prevent vaginal infections, one of the most common gynecological problems of young women.



Boosting Immunity While Reducing Inflammation

Cooked white mushroom consumption stimulates antibody production, while potentially still playing an anti-inflammatory role.



Black Raspberries vs. Oral Cancer

Black raspberries may cause complete clinical regression of precancerous oral lesions (oral intraepithelial neoplasia).



Strawberries vs. Esophageal Cancer

A randomized phase II clinical trial on the ability of strawberries to reverse the progression to esophageal cancer.



Cranberries vs. Cancer

Drug companies and supplement manufacturers have yet to isolate the components of cranberries that suppress cancer cell growth.



Which Fruit Fights Cancer Better?

The ability of eleven common fruits to suppress cancer cell growth in vitro was compared. Which was most effective—apples, bananas, cranberries, grapefruits, grapes, lemons, oranges, peaches, pears, pineapples, or strawberries?



Flaxseeds & Breast Cancer Survival: Epidemiological Evidence

Lignan intake is associated with improved breast cancer survival in three recent population studies following a total of thousands of women after diagnosis.



Flaxseeds & Breast Cancer Prevention

Young women at high risk for breast cancer given just a teaspoon of ground flax seeds a day showed fewer precancerous changes.



Fiber vs. Breast Cancer

Inadequate fiber intake appears to be a risk factor for breast cancer, which can explain why women eating plant-based diets may be at lower risk.



Dried Apples, Dates, Figs, or Prunes for Cholesterol?

A comparison of the cholesterol-lowering potential of four dried fruits—apples, dates, figs, and plums.



Herbal Tea Update: Hibiscus

Hibiscus tea elevates the antioxidant level of one’s bloodstream within an hour of consumption.



Treating Parkinson’s Disease with Diet

Plant-based diets in general, and certain plant foods in particular, may be used to successfully treat Parkinson’s disease—in part, by boosting L-DOPA levels.



Clinical Studies on Açaí Berries

An independent review of the effects of açaí berries was recently published, including studies on immune function, arthritis, and metabolic parameters.



Protein, Puberty, and Pollutants

The early onset of puberty in girls associated with animal protein consumption may be due to endocrine-disrupting chemical pollutants in the meat supply.



Cancer, Interrupted: Garlic and Flavonoids

Garlic and flavonoid phytonutrients found in fruits, vegetables, nuts, and grains appear to protect against DNA damage induced by mutagenic chemicals found in cooked meat.



Cancer, Interrupted: Green Tea

Using the cooked meat carcinogen PhIP to turn normal breast cells cancerous, researchers explore the use of green tea to interrupt this malignant transformation.



Apple Juice May Be Worse than Sugar Water

Why the spike in antioxidant levels in our bloodstream after drinking apple juice might not be a good thing.



Beauty Is More than Skin Deep

Some foods appear protective against the development of skin wrinkles—while others may make them worse.



Plants vs. Pesticides

Phytonutrients found in certain foods may protect against the toxic effects of industrial pollutants such as dioxin and DDT, suggesting a dual role for plant-based diets to reduce both exposure and subsequent damage.



Eating Green to Prevent Cancer

Chlorophyll, the most ubiquitous plant pigment in the world, may protect our DNA against mutation by intercepting carcinogens.



Prostate vs. Plants

All men should consider eating a prostate-healthy diet, which includes legumes (beans, peas, lentils, soy); certain vegetables (like garlic and onions); certain seeds (flax seeds); and the avoidance of refined grains, eggs, and poultry.



The Ice Diet

The water content of plant foods may help explain why those eating plant-based diets are, on average, so slim. Can ice be thought of as having even “fewer” calories than water, since the body has to warm it up?



Tipping Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes

Certain phytonutrients may tip the balance of healthy gut bacteria in favor of flora associated with improved weight control.



Fat Burning via Flavonoids

Flavonoid phytonutrients (found concentrated in citrus, berries, red onions, beans, green tea, grapes, and cocoa) may boost metabolism enough to significantly slim one’s waistline.



Optimal Phytosterol Source

Whole food sources of phytosterols, such as seeds and nuts, are likely superior to supplements, or phytosterol-fortified spreads and beverages.



Optimal Phytosterol Dose

Those eating plant-based diets get the most phytosterols, but there’s still room for improvement to maximize cholesterol reduction.



New Mineral Absorption Enhancers Found

The whole grain phytonutrient phytic acid (phytate) partially inhibits mineral absorption, but has a wide range of health-promoting properties, such as anticancer activity. By concurrently eating mineral absorption enhancers, such as garlic and onions, one can get the best of both worlds by improving the bioavailability of iron and zinc in plant foods.



Plant-Based Diets and Cellular Stress Defenses

Measuring the effects of a plant-based diet on the expression of hundreds of different genes at a time, a research group found that an antioxidant-rich portfolio of plant foods such as berries, pomegranates, purple grapes, red cabbage, oregano, and walnuts was able to significantly modify the regulation of genes in the blood of volunteers.



Kiwifruit and DNA Repair

Plant-based diets help prevent cancer not only by blocking DNA damage, but by increasing our DNA repair enzymes’ ability to repair any damage that gets by our first line of antioxidant defense.



Treating Genital Warts with Green Tea

Now officially incorporated into the Centers for Disease Control STD Treatment Guidelines, the topical application of phytonutrients from green tea on external genital warts results in an astounding 100% clearance in more than half the patients tested—a testament to the power of plants.