When was the last time you popped a multivitamin, thinking “I didn’t eat well today, but this ought to make up for it”? Can the vitamins you get at your local health food store compensate for a lack of greens, yellows, oranges, reds, and purples in your diet? The answer, sadly, is no.
I know, the two of us exhort and cajole you to eat more fruits and vegetables at least once each month. Why is that? Well, from our perspective, they are delicious, nutritious, and low in calories. At least, that’s how we were thinking about eating produce when we came across a publication by Friedman and Friedman (2022). These scientists made a stunning case for eating plants. The authors explained that plants have literally hundreds of phytonutrients, far more than the dozen or so listed on your multivitamin bottle. All minimally processed plant foods—fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, mushrooms, yeast, algae, coffee, tea, and spices—contain these compounds, nutrients that directly impact you and your health.
Just like the vitamins and minerals that have been studied in some depth, phytonutrients appear to do some amazing things in our brains and bodies. For example, we know that phytonutrients have a positive impact on the immune system, glucose regulation, insulin secretion, and even cognition. The study of these compounds is in its infancy, but the next time you have a choice between a cookie and a nice, juicy peach, you have one more reason to choose the peach.
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