Fruits and vegetables that are high in carotenoids appear to protect humans against certain cancers, heart disease and age related macular degeneration. Elderly men whose intake of dark green and deep yellow vegetable put them in the highest quartile for consumption of these vegetables had about a 46% decrease in risk of heart disease relative to men who ranked in the lowest quartile.While these phytonutrients aren't essential by traditional definitions, they apparently reduce risks of diseases of aging. This can reduce cardiovascular disease risk by interfering with the clumping of blood plateletsthe first stagein clot formation. Lycopene from tomatoes can also be a preventive measure in regards to your health. Lycopene,for example,from tomatoes is in clinical trials for cardiovascular diseases and prostate cancer. A host of fresh fruits, especially berries

are rich in disease-fighting phytochemicals. Serious diseases such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease, stomach ulcers. More than 80% of all chronic disease is preventable, but only if you know how.

If you want to accelerate your aging process, and shorten your life, the way to do that is to do what most Americans are doing already: avoid physical exercise, eat a large percentage of your diet from fast foods and junk foods, consume large quantities of white flour and refined white sugar, eat brand-name groceries sold in beautiful boxes and made with dirt-cheap ingredients that lack any nutritional content whatsoever, and of course, avoid supplementing with super foods and other nutritional supplements. Protein and carbohydrates are the chief components of nutrition. These protective plant compounds are becoming an emerging area of health and nutrition, with new research reported almost daily. Scientists are finding that foods once considered to be low in nutritional value are actually packed with powerful antioxidants. We believe phytonutrients are an inexpensive and convenient way to get the nutritional benefits of eating fresh fruits and vegetables -- and to get these benefits each and every day. Still,a true nutritional role for phytochemicals is becoming more probable every day as researchers uncover more and more benefits. Research has brought the plant-disease connection to the attention of the world.

For those of you in my situation, we are probably not consuming the necessary dosage of vitamins and minerals that our bodies need to stay healthy, unless we are taking some form of vitamin supplement. Libraries of information exist about vitamins, but phytonutrients are newcomers to the health-food table. Dietary fat is necessary for absorption of vitamins, nutrients and phytochemicals from fruits and vegetables. A fascinating new study published by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition shows that dietary fat is necessary for the absorption of nutrients from fruits and vegetables. However, phytonutrients go beyond vitamins and minerals  they are more obscure, are present in much smaller amounts and usually have profound effects on our health. Today, numerous researchers worldwide are endeavoring to investigate and confirm possible functional properties in foods, phytonutrient or otherwise, beyond the more familiar vitamins and minerals, that could be efficient in preventing the common diseases of aging such as macular degeneration, heart disease, atherosclerosis, diabetes, dementia, and cancer. Even if you are eating the recommended daily amounts of fruits and vegetables, you're STILL not getting all of the phytonutrients and vitamins your body MUST have to function properly. RELATED ARTICLE: Tracing Elements and Vitamins A Chinese document dating back 5,000 years described goiter--an enlarged thyroid gland--and recommended that afflicted people eat seaweed and burnt sponge--both good sources of iodine. In the 20's & 30's,11 of the 15 vitamins were discovered. Some vitamins, such as vitamin C, are antioxidants in their own right.

Antioxidant phytos can interfere with the damaging effects of LDL cholesterol on arteries. Antioxidant phytos, especially beta carotene, can block this process and thus prevent cardiovascular disease. Antioxidants also help to prevent damage by carcinogens, such as ultraviolet radiation, tobacco smoke, and environmental pollutants. Cellular damage can be prevented when antioxidants attack the carcinogens and render them useless. One of the most important roles of phytos is acting as antioxidants. Your body needs more antioxidant police officers as you get older, since the body's ability to repair itself diminishes with age. There are hundreds, if not thousands of them, and they have effects such as antioxidants, boosting the immune system, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, antibacterial, and cellular repair. In numbers of studies, these antioxidant pigments have been found to reduce heart disease, cancer, and other ailments that are the result of oxidative damage.