Foods to eat every day to help you resist disease

It turns out your mother was right about broccoli: you should eat more of it. And that goes for onion, garlic, cauliflower, bok choy and cabbage, too.

Scientists (as well as moms) have been saying for years that we should eat lots of vegetables and fruits to keep ourselves healthy and fight off disease. But there’s new evidence that some are more powerful than others when it comes to buoying the body’s own defense mechanism against oxidative stress.

“Researchers have identified plant foods containing phytochemicals that trigger antioxidant protection mechanisms in the human body,” says Keith Randolph, Ph.D.,  technology strategist of research and development at the Amway Nutrilite Health Institute in Buena Park, California. “This research is in its early stages, but published data shows cruciferous vegetables [like broccoli] as being particularly potent inducers of antioxidant response within the body.”

Dr. Randolph shared this emerging research October 26 in Beijing at an international symposium on the importance of plant-based foods. He and other Nutrilite Health Institute scientists have been conducting extensive research on the high nutritional values and beneficial health effects of various phytonutrients – the compounds that give plants their color – for several years.

Learn more about phytonutrients on iTunes! Click here for Amway podcasts on “Color Yourself Healthy.”