All Videos for Phytonutrients

The Exogenous Endotoxin Theory

The endotoxemia (bacterial toxins in the bloodstream) that follows a meal of animal products and results in inflammation and stiffened arteries may come from the food itself, rather than from one’s own gut bacteria.



Is Hydroponic Basil as Healthy?

The antioxidant, phytonutrient, and vitamin content of basil grown in water (hydroponic) is compared to basil grown in soil.



Prevent Glaucoma and See 27 Miles Farther

The risk of glaucoma, the second leading cause of blindness, appears to be dramatically reduced by kale or collard greens consumption, thanks to the phytonutrient pigments lutein and zeaxanthin.



Garden Variety Anti-Inflammation

The variety of fruit and vegetable consumption may decrease disease risk, independent of quantity.



Apples and Oranges: Dietary Diversity

In addition to quantity and quality, the variety of fruits and vegetables consumed matters, as many phytonutrients are not evenly distributed among the various families and parts of plants.



The Fruit Whose Juice Is Healthier

Can you name a fruit whose processed juice is healthier than just eating the fruit itself?



Raw Veggies vs. Cooked for Heart Disease

Fruit and vegetable consumption is associated with a lower risk of heart disease. But which is more protective—raw or cooked?



A Treatment for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

An industry-funded, randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled crossover trial study suggests chocolate may improve symptoms for those suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome—a debilitating condition currently affecting as many as seven million Americans. But how do you get the cacao phytonutrients without the saturated fat and added sugar?



Flax and Fecal Flora

The trillions of good bacteria in our gut can be thought of as an additional organ—metabolizing, detoxifying, and activating many crucial components of our diet. The formation of lignans from phytonutrient precursors found predominantly in flax seeds is one such example.



Breast Cancer Survival & Lignan Intake

One teaspoon of flax seeds may double one’s daily production of lignans—phytonutrients that appear to play a role in both breast cancer prevention and survival.



Raw Broccoli & Bladder Cancer Survival

The effect of raw and cooked broccoli consumption on survival rates of bladder cancer patients.



Biggest Nutrition Bang for Your Buck

Growing your own broccoli sprouts is one of the most cost-effective ways to improve your diet.



Lung Cancer Metastases & Broccoli

The anti-proliferative effects of cruciferous vegetable phytonutrients may decrease the metastatic potential of lung cancer, the number one cancer killer of women.



Sometimes the Enzyme Myth Is True

There are a few examples of plant enzymes having physiologically relevant impacts on the human diet, and the formation of sulforaphane in broccoli is one of them.



The Best Detox

The most powerful natural inducer of our liver’s detoxifying enzyme system is sulforaphane, a phytonutrient produced by broccoli.



How Much Broccoli Is Too Much?

Four cups of broccoli sprouts a day may exceed the safe dose of the cruciferous phytonutrient sulforaphane.



Liver Toxicity Due to Broccoli Juice?

6,000 cups of broccoli a year is probably too much.



Sulforaphane: From Broccoli to Breast

In a test tube, the broccoli phytonutrient sulforaphane appears to target breast cancer stem cells. But how do we know it’s even absorbed into the body? Have women undergoing breast reduction surgery eat some an hour before their operation, and directly measure the level in their tissues.



Broccoli vs. Breast Cancer Stem Cells

A new theory of cancer biology—cancer stem cells—and the role played by sulforaphane, a phytonutrient produced by cruciferous vegetables.



DNA Protection from Broccoli

Eating broccoli appears to make DNA more resistant to damage.



Smoking vs. Kale Juice

The effect of kale juice on LDL and HDL cholesterol, and the antioxidant capacity of the blood.



Kale and the Immune System

Comparing the immune system-boosting effect of cooked versus raw kale.



So Should We Drink Beet Juice, or Not?

In the context of a healthy, plant-based diet, the nitrates in vegetables can safely be converted into nitric oxide, which can boost athletic performance, and may help prevent heart disease.



Vitamin C-Enriched Bacon

The addition of vitamin C to processed (cured) meats such as bacon may actually make them more carcinogenic.



Prevention Is Better Than Cured Meat

The levels of nitrosamines—considered the most carcinogenic agents in cigarette smoke—were recently measured in an array of processed meats including chicken, turkey, and pork.



Are Nitrates Pollutants or Nutrients?

Phytonutrients, such as vitamin C, prevent the formation of nitrosamines from nitrites—which explains why adding nitrite preservatives to processed meat can be harmful, but adding more vegetables, with their nitrite-forming nitrates, to our diet can be helpful.



Pretty in Pee-nk

Beeturia, the passage of pink urine after beetroot consumption, is a reminder that phytonutrients circulate throughout our bloodstream—explaining the connection between “garlic breath,” and the use of garlic as an adjunct treatment for pneumonia.



Don’t Use Antiseptic Mouthwash

The natural flora on our tongue (lingual bacteria) are essential for the athletic performance-enhancing effect of the nitrates in vegetables such as beetroot.



Bulking Up on Antioxidants

Even when fiber and fruit and vegetable intake are kept constant, choosing foods richer in antioxidants may increase stool size, which is associated with lower cancer risk.



The Power of NO

Antioxidants protect NO synthase—the enzyme that produces the artery-relaxing signal, nitric oxide. This may explain why those who eat especially antioxidant-rich plant foods have improved flow-mediated dilation of the brachial arteries.



Anti-Inflammatory Antioxidants

Even when choosing the same quantity of fruits and vegetables, those making higher antioxidant choices experienced a reduction in C-reactive protein (inflammation) levels.



Anti Up on the Veggies

Greens rank highest in chemical antioxidant assays (such as ORAC, TEAC, TRAP, and FRAP). But which vegetables lead the pack when cellular antioxidant activity is measured?



Dragon’s Blood

The four most antioxidant-packed natural substances so far tested are cloves, amla (Indian gooseberries), triphala (a combination of amla, bibhitaki, and haritaki fruits), and dragon’s blood.



Amla & Triphala Tested for Metals

Both U.S.-made and imported Ayurvedic dietary supplements have high contamination rates of toxic metals such as mercury—though only a small fraction of the levels found in canned tuna.



Some Ayurvedic Medicine Worse than Lead Paint Exposure

Triphala, a combination of three fruits—amla, bibhitaki, and haritaki—is the most commonly used herbal formulation in Ayurvedic medicine, and may have powerful anticancer properties. Unfortunately, one in five Ayurvedic herbal dietary supplements were found contaminated with lead, mercury, and/or arsenic.



A Better Breakfast

The antioxidant power of American breakfast fare is compared to a smoothie that contains berries, white tea leaves, and Indian gooseberry (amla) powder.



Antioxidants in a Pinch

Some herbs and spices—including cinnamon, cloves, lemon balm, marjoram, oregano, and peppermint—are so rich in antioxidants that just a small pinch can go a long way.



Better than Goji Berries

There are some dried fruits even more antioxidant-packed than goji berries.



Dried Apples vs. Cholesterol

Which common dried fruit is the most antioxidant-packed: apple rings, dried apricots, dried cherries, dried mango, prunes, or raisins?



Best Berries

Compared to popular fruits such as apples, bananas, and mangoes, which of the hundreds of different berries tested have the most and least antioxidant power: blackberries, blueberries, cranberries, crowberries, dog rose berries, grapes, raspberries, strawberries, or Tahitian noni juice?