Veggies; phytochemicals and their Ilixer health and beauty boost

Immune boost and antioxidants

I don’t like using the word "miraculous," mindlessly, but vegetables, as I have discovered, actually do many miraculous things for health and beauty. Plant foods contain phytochemical, or phytonutrients and for purposes of this entry, I will define these as biologically active compounds found in fruits and vegetables. A commonly known one is, for example, antioxidants. These chemicals help the plant protect themselves from germs, bugs, fungi and other plant ravages.


 There is a highly convincing body of research that points to humans benefiting enormously from the phytochemical compounds that defend plants. Vegetables help protect us from diseases and keep our heart healthy and vegetables, along with beans, are foods with the most nutrients per calorie. The micronutrients in plant foods such as:

•  calcium
• iron
• magnesium
• potassium
• selenium
•  sodium
•  zinc
•   vitamins: A, B6, B12, C, D, E, and K
•  biotin
• folic acid
• niacin
•  pantothenic acid
• riboflavin
•  thiamin

We will delve into these all, and these compounds are invaluable to your wellness. The lists of veggies I provide as examples (below) would contain the majority of these healthy nutrients, if not all.

 If I were forced to cite the  top-3 quick fixes or anti-aging changes, a wide rotation of vegetables is one of my top three  for a transformed body.  I purposely eat a wide array of vegetables (I shoot for 10) throughout the day, every day. I think of it as infusing my body consciously with micronutrients and while this is merely anecdotal, I feel that one of my greatest anti-aging weapons has been the 10-veggies a day routine.

Think again of the vehicle you want to be driving. You can either have your car rust out and look old and frail, or keep your car protected by a miraculous  compounds that keeps the body of your car shiny, new-looking, and sound. 

Antioxident as the name implies keeps the “rust” from forming on our body, prevents the wear down of the oxidation process.  On a cellular level our cells do wear down from the damage of sun rays, pollution, and viral invasion, and there is good evidence that phytochemical compounds protect us from these invaders.

I felt like I had found a magic potion

I will speak from first-hand knowledge. I did not consciously try to saturate my diet with vegetables until I was 50. I wasn’t vegetable averse and would eat salads but not daily, and eat some vegetables for dinner. However, nothing like I am doing now; a diet that includes around 10 different vegetables a day. The changes were quite stunning and I feel the vegetable boost was the catalyst to peak performance.

I am a teacher and my ability to withstand the continual sneezing, coughing, and every common virus that comes around for each season, improved majorly with my consistent addition of vegetables.

My skin has a better glow and a tautness that I unhesitatingly attribute to the boost the vegetables are bringing to my body.  

Veggie Elixer

Consider the ten different vegetables a day as a potent elixir that maintains a healthy weight, improves your skin’s radiance, and at the same time pumps up your immune system. In fact, this is exactly what a vegetable infused diet will bring you.

Vegetables hydrate naturally

The daily dosage of raw vegetables is like a freshly pressed booster drink. To insure a wide range of micronutrients in your “booster drink” be sure to include lots of colors: red, greens, purples, orange etc. We discussed needing water to keep the body flushed; vegetables are included in adding to our water intake and the micronutrients will enhance the wellness of hydration.

In future entries I will share the fascinating research being done on the extraordinary properties found in vegetables. For example:

•  crucifers (cabbage, broccili, brusselsprouts) are legendary for protecting against hormonal-related cancers
•  spinach contains phytocompounds which help regulate appetite
•  yams are brilliant at "unhardening"your arteries and blood vessels and lowering your blood pressure
•  fermented vegetables (sauerkraut and cured olives) pack probiotics to boost immune systems and help with your allergies.

What to eat?

Lunch items: for lunch I unfailingly have one container of what the French call “crudités” (cut up raw vegetables) and I don’t put anything on them. They crunch, they quench, they help skin glow. They satisfy the need to munch and importantly, vegetables with their water and fiber are a natural appetite suppressant. If I eat them before my other food items, I want to eat less.

Bring these to work: crudités

o   cucumber

o   tomatoes

o   olives

o   celery

o   red pepper

o   radishes

o   pre-cut in bags:

o   shredded broccoli

o   shredded red cabbage

o   shredded carrots (can do whole cut up)

If you have no time to cook, at the very least, bring a container of veggies, to munch on during the day, perhaps before you go to lunch with colleagues and fellow workers, or as a snack. If you have no time to chop and prepare, no problem, go to the grocery store and many of the above are pre-cut, chopped and washed for you. All you need to do is put cut up veggies in a container and I take the pre-shredded veggies and add a little olive oil, lemon juice, and salt. Delicious! Really! 

 Bringing vegetables to work is a new habit, but one which will bring you many, many improvements.  

Dinners:
I eat some kind of protein and a vegetable for dinner; frequently rotating  the nutrient dense items below:

o   spinach

o   onions

o   garlic

o   yams

o   green beans

o   broccoli
asparagus

Train yourself to view vegetables as an additional medicine to your meds or view the vegetables as a Super Food that will bring you an infusion of youthfulness and well-being. Vegetables are powerful healers and provide extraordinary armor to protect your well being.We will explore these powerful healers in depth in future entries. Veggies are always on The Training Table.