How do green vegetables, fruits, and nuts help to improve immunity and keep fit and healthy?

Let us begin with some macro facts.

It is estimated that about 2 billion people live primarily on a meat-based diet, while 4 billion focus on a plant-based diet. The US food production system, a dominant meat-based market with its population of just 300 million, uses about 50% of the total US land area, 80% of its freshwater, and 17% of the fossil energy. Therefore, a vegetarian diet is more ecologically sustainable when compared to a meat-based diet (Pimentel et al., 2003).

Fruits and vegetables are rich in phytochemicals-these help in building body immunity. Three types of phytochemicals have been identified—carotenoids, polyphenols, and allium compounds.

Carotenoids are found in abundance in red, yellow, orange, and dark-green colored fruits and vegetables. Polyphenol-rich foods include herbs, spices, vegetables, green tea, apples, and berries. Allium-rich compounds are garlic, onions, leeks, and related vegetables. Many of these vegetables contain antioxidants such as β carotene, selenium, and vitamins C and E. These chemicals reduce the risk of cell damage.

Oxidants are the most common of the cell damage-causing molecules. Oxidants are produced during healthy cellular metabolism. These normally help modulate inflammation, kill bacteria, detoxify toxins, and maintain a good vascular (blood vessel) tone. Excess, unutilized oxidants damage cell membranes, lipids, and DNA. This damage gets repaired by antioxidants obtained from food.

We get exposed to oxidants from external sources too. Smoking, alcohol, certain drugs, deep-fried and fatty foods are other sources. We get exposed to oxidants through radiation, UV light, heat shock, and strong sunlight too. Other oxidant sources are air fresheners as well as vehicular and industrial pollutants. Oxidants interact with antioxidants, destroying these. Diet will need to have enough surplus antioxidants to counterbalance the loss from oxidants.

Free oxidants that are not neutralized by antioxidants can cause degenerative disease such as atherosclerotic heart disease, diabetes, skin ailments, arthritis, neurodegenerative disorders, cancers, etc.

Vitamins B and D and calcium found in plants and other foods have cancer-preventive properties. Dietary fiber found in whole grain, seeds, legumes, pulses, vegetables, fruit, and products made from these helps in the easy evacuation of stool. Plant-based phytochemical-rich foods help regulate hormones such as estrogen, slow cancer cell growth, and block inflammation.

Cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, related vegetables, lycopene found in tomato products, pink grapefruit, watermelon, and apricots all protect several types of cancers.

No single antioxidant molecule has been found that can replace the health benefits generated by a combination of natural phytochemicals found in fruits and vegetables. Consumers need to eat 5–10 servings of a wide variety of fruits and vegetables daily to mitigate the risk of chronic diseases and to meet nutrient requirements essential for optimum health (Liu, 2004).

This is a vast and extensively studied subject area and what I presented above is just a preview.

Additional reading:

Natural Solutions for CancerNutrition Facts- A guide to good healthNatural Solutions for DiabetesNatural Solutions for Obesity

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