On the recommendation of the World Health Organization( WHO), in order to maintain normal health, we should consume at least 400 grams of fruits and vegetables per day. Mainly - fresh and raw. Do you follow these tips? According to statistics, 75% of people do not listen to this recommendation by WHO.
Healthy human diet
What should be the diet of a person who wants to support and strengthen their health? This question will not give an exact answer, no doctor, until he examines the analysis of this person, will not get acquainted with his way of life and the family tree. There are not so many great rules for compiling the menu, and we all, to some extent, develop our own diet and diet in an instinctive way.
It would seem that the garden fare: eating food competently is to eat what our ancestors ate long ago. They somehow managed without yoghurts, big beans and biologically active additives. But we must bear in mind that previous generations lived a little on a different planet. They had other environmental conditions, a different rhythm of existence - and, it should be noted, the average life expectancy was much lower than today's.
We can not but admit: we are evolving, and this happens even at the food level.
Studies in recent years confirm that the men's menu has changed very much. Only 40-50 years ago mass production of meat products was established. The newest breeds of chickens that were grown in the premises were withdrawn, they quickly gain weight - and from that time the meat production began to decline sharply in price.
If a person of average income at the beginning of the last century spoiled himself hot once a week, at the moment meat is available to almost everyone. In the past 20 years, vegetables and fruits have started to contain 20% less useful substances - also due to "industrial" production.
As a result, there was an amazing situation: the average person( we do not take the inhabitants of Central Africa) is able to afford to eat variedly and with pleasure, but his menu is very "burdened" with meat products, whereas he receives insufficient vitamins, minerals, provitamins from plants.
What are phytonutrients and why do they need
Scientists involved in nutrition problems have combined the necessary substances of plant origin under the general term "phytonutrients".What are these substances? Their main goal is to protect plants from the hostile action of the environment. Using them, we get the opportunity to "assign" these defenses. Currently, a lot of biologically active additives are produced, based on phytonutrients.
How are such tablets and capsules produced? We take vegetables, fruits and herbs grown in ecologically clean places without the use of chemical fertilizers, insecticides and other harmful preparations( in any case, this should be the case ideally).From these plants fibers are removed;all that is left, dried, mixed, and here is the phytonutrient in the purified version.
People who want to improve their health status should follow simple rules: first of all - to move more, and secondly, to eat competently, including many vegetables and fruits in their own menu, and if their use falls short of WHO recommendations given inthe very beginning, you can make up for the lack of phytonutrients by taking biologically active supplements.
Unfortunately, a lack of phytonutrients is experienced by many, since we do not always manage to adhere to a full-fledged diet provided with all important substances. We will not have time to live and work if we carefully select our diet according to the colors and use it according to the schedule.
Where to get phytonutrients?
The most popular advice for the WHO is the popular Mediterranean diet. It uses a large number of fresh vegetables and fruits, fresh seafood, olive oil. But, alas, the inhabitants of the Russian outback to adhere to such a menu is quite problematic. And in other countries and regions, so very few eat it. Most often in the diet of residents around the world, there is a lack of vitamins C, A, D, E. And this defect, of course, affects the well-being.
In different products, the content of these or those phytonutrients may vary significantly. Consider, for example, lutein. This phytonutrient is necessary for us to rejuvenate all organs and systems( since it is considered a strong antioxidant, neutralizing the action of destructive free radicals), especially to strengthen the organs of vision. It is found in large quantities in green vegetables and fruits. Most of it in spinach. Since a person needs from 6 to 10 mg of lutein per day, guided by the advice of scientists, you need to eat 100 grams of spinach per day. Or half a kilo of green peas, where the concentration of lutein is much lower. Or a bucket of kiwi, where the lutein is quite a bit.
Naturally, not every one of us is capable of such food feats. But modern man can fully support the body with the help of drugs and biologically active additives with phytonutrients. However, if daily to eat, as recommended by WHO, 400 grams of fresh vegetables and fruits, and as diversified as possible, then you can do without these pills and tablets.
Phytonutrients color plants in different colors: for example, lycopene is found in reddish vegetables and fruits, carotene in yellowish and orange, the anthocyanidins add to the fruits a dark blue color. Any phytonutrient is needed for the improvement of certain organs and systems. In order to help the body as a whole, we need a balanced set of phytonutrients, that is, our diet must be in the literal sense of the word iridescent.