I’ve always said that there is no silver bullet for healthy eating and weight loss, but phytonutrients may be as close as it gets. Phytonutrients are antioxidants found specifically in plant foods such as vegetables, fruits, beans, nuts, seeds, and whole grains (in rank order, with vegetables generally being the most phytonutrient-dense). A diet primarily based on these fresh, whole, unprocessed foods will establish the right variables for natural and sustained weight loss in addition to promoting cardiovascular health.
Phytonutrient-rich foods make portion control easy.
Have you ever gone on a midnight broccoli binge or pigged out on kale? When we eat plant based whole foods we don’t have to think about counting calories or measuring portions; it is intrinsic. Unrefined plant foods give you the most amount of nutrients for the least amount of calories. Phytonutrient dense foods are also high-fiber, low-glycemic, low in saturated fats, trans-fat free, HFCS free, and notably high in antioxidants. They are everything processed food makers aspire to achieve but never will. These packaged foods, such as chips, cookies, crackers, candy, sugar cereal, and thousands of other processed food products are totally void of phytonutrients and (not coincidentally) the most difficult to control portion size.
Eat organic to give your diet a phytonutrient super boost.
Organic farming standards require that farmers use natural means such as crop rotation, as opposed to chemical fertilizers and pesticides, to maintain nutrient rich soil for their plants to grow healthy and strong. When the soil contains more nutrients, so do the plants which grown in it.
Apply this rule to the diets of the animals you eat.
Grass fed beef, free range chicken, and wild fish eat foods richer in phytonutrients than their conventional or farmed counterparts. When these animals are given the opportunity to thrive on a phytonutrient-rich diet, they are healthier and leaner. Additionally, meat from naturally grazing and wild animals contains more beneficial omega-3 fatty acids.
Phytonutrients slow the aging process and promote cardiovascular health.
These powerful antioxidants decrease oxidative stress and inflammation, two well known causes of premature aging, cancer, and cardiovascular disease. You can spend hundreds of dollars on supplements, vitamin drinks, skin serums, and pharmaceuticals to slow the aging process and improve heart health, or you can get it all, and more, with a phytonutrient-rich diet.
“New” phytonutrients are being discovered every day; lignans in flaxseeds, catechins in green tea, polyphenols in cocoa, and carnosol in rosemary. Clearly, there is still much to be discovered about the unique benefits plant based foods provide for us which is why we can not depend on man-made elixirs to compensate for a nutrient deficient diet. Give your body what it needs to promote health and weight loss by consuming a phytonutrient-dense diet, consisting primarily of fresh whole, ideally organic, plant foods along with meat from wild or naturally grazing animals.
