Have you had your fruits and vegetables today? Phytonutrients protect the body and fights diseases such as cancer

Phytonutrients are found in the skins of fruits and vegetables, and are what give them their color, scent, and flavor. Many people believe that they are vitamins but they are actually pigments and are now recognized as very important to our diets.

Phytonutrients are found in high amounts in green fruits and vegetables as well as in tomatoes, grapes, red onions, red cabbage, raspberries and blackberries and many others. Small amounts can even be found in grains.

New studies have shown that phytonutrients have many benefits. One benefit is as an antioxidant, which can help decrease premature aging and disease. Another benefit is that they strengthen the immune system and slow aging in the brain and help maintain vision. The area getting the most attention and research is in phytonutrients benefits in reducing the risk of certain cancers.

Because phytonutrients are not technically a vitamin and we still know relatively little about them there is no recommended daily allowance. However, the food pyramid suggests 3-5 servings of vegetables and 2-4 servings of fruit per day, so staying within these limits is a good bet. For most of us consuming adequate quantities of fruits and vegetables can be hard. It has been found that this is the area that most people have significant shortfalls. If you can’t get phytonutrients from fruits and vegetables dietary supplements are better than nothing, but it is always best to get the nutrients from their real source.

There are thousands of phytonutrients that have been identified, and hundreds of them can be found in just one type of fruit or vegetable. For example an orange has more then 170 phytonutrients in it. Some of the most well known phytonutrients are flavonoids, which can help reduce the risk of heart attacks, carotene, which helps boost the immune system and is also an antioxidant, and lycopene, which has been found to help reduce the risk for cancers especially prostate cancer.

Learn more about what phytonutrients can do for this and other ailments.