Eat your vegetables.

--Your mother

Your mother may not have had a degree in nutrition or biochemistry. Still she knew, on some intuitive level, that vegetables--as well as fruits and legumes--are brimming with all sorts of good stuff. And guess what? She was right.

So take your mom's advice and slide your tray past the meat, poultry, fish, dairy products, and eggs in the cafeteria line of life. Instead head straight for the salad bar and thoughtfully fix your gaze on the dazzling display of veggies. Those greens make for a terpene bonanza. The cherry tomatoes ante up a lycopene jackpot. The spinach dishes out lutein, zeaxanthin, and glutathione. The broccoli serves up sulforaphane. The scallions supply allylic sulfides.

The way you view food is about to change forever. Welcome to the exciting, if verbally challenging, new world of phytochemicals.

The New Kids on the Block

Phyto means plant. As their name suggests, phytochemicals (sometimes called phytonutrients) are biologically active plant molecules that promote health and prevent disease. But phytochemicals are more than just interesting new compounds with intimidating names--they are truly the future of food.

Our moms may have suspected the incredible healing power of phytochemicals all along. But it eluded scientists for more than a half- century. Only recently have they gotten interested. What piqued their curiosity is the realization that phytochemicals tune up the molecular orchestra of our cells' biochemistry. In the process, these nutrients offer the best protection we know of against the degenerative diseases that accompany advancing age.

In a research initiative that is still in its infancy--and certain to dominate nutritional news in the twenty-first century--new phytochemicals and even new classes of phytochemicals are being discovered almost on a daily basis. Thanks to what they're learning about these compounds, biochemical supersleuths are now solving age-old questions. For example, what are the ingredients in foods that feed the body's healing systems? How does the structure of a food affect its function in the body's cells?

This research probes the essence of Renewal. In a virtual explosion of new insights, the innermost workings of the body's healing systems are being revealed. On a molecular and even submolecular level, scientists are discovering the nuts and bolts of how food components protect us from damage and nurture our repair mechanisms--literally how food supports Renewal.

Herbalists have long recognized and harnessed the therapeutic power of foods. For many centuries, without the advantage of scientific insight and guided only by their keen powers of observation, herbalists observed the healing effects of herbs and other foods and based their prescriptions on them. They had to rely on subtle clues and empiricism (if it works, it works).

The Phytochemical Revolution has changed all that. Scientific revelations about the relationship between the structure and function of healing nutrients has paved the way to using food components as medicine in ways that herbalists could only dream of in the past. This new understanding of the healing power of phytochemicals validates all of herbal medicine.

Now more than ever, the food choices you make can reward you with a longer life--or snatch precious years away from you. Beyond merely underscoring the importance of eating fresh plant foods, the Phytochemical Revolution has opened the door to preventive nutrition. One of your most powerful anti-aging strategies is to make phytochemical-rich foods the centerpiece of your diet.

Phytochemicals are literally nutritional medicines. They protect, heal, and Renew you. The more phytochemicals you have in your body, the less vulnerable you are to chronic degenerative disease.

Blazing a Nutritional Trail

Prior to the turn of the twentieth century, all scientists knew about food was that it contained carbohydrates, protein, and fat. Then in the first seven decades of this century, they unraveled the chemistry of vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and essential fatty acids.

With all of the essential nutrients identified, scientists had all the information they needed to keep a person alive on supplements alone. Yet, realistically, they knew this couldn't be done--that the person would succumb to cancer or some other degenerative disease much sooner than a similar person who ate real food. Why? Because foods contained some elusive "mystery nutrient" necessary to prevent disease and sustain life.

All through the 1970s and early 1980s, scientists wondered what this special something could be. Despite a smattering of research forays on various food constituents (like the allicin in garlic, the carotenoids in carrots, the ginsenosides in ginseng, and the tocopherols in grains and nuts), it wasn't until the late 1980s that the enormous number and biological complexity of phytochemicals became evident. The "mystery nutrient" turned out to be not one or two but thousands--possibly tens of thousands--of protective compounds. This was a major breakthrough.

In addition to their specific preventive and curative properties, most of the phytochemicals happen to be antioxidants. As you'll recall from chapter 2, antioxidants protect healthy molecules from oxidation by free radicals. Without antioxidants, we'd be toast (almost literally, since toast is oxidized bread).

When nutritionally blasé molecular biologists realized that phytochemicals could also act as antioxidants, they suddenly got very excited about the compounds. And when those same scientists began seeing the intimate connection between antioxidant phytochemicals and cellular protection, repair, and regeneration (the foundation of Renewal), they suddenly got religion about the benefits of eating plant-derived foods. This paved the road to the Phytochemical Revolution.

Confronting the Deficiency Disease Bias

With the discovery of antioxidant phytochemicals, the nutritional plot thickened. Earlier research had been based on the supposition that if you remove a specific essential nutrient (such as niacin) from the diet, its corresponding deficiency disease (pellagra) would eventually appear. This logic didn't apply to phytochemicals. Researchers found themselves dealing with "conditionally essential" nutrients--nutrients that wouldn't prevent specific deficiency diseases but the absence of which would promote age-accelerating oxidative damage and contribute to age-related degenerative diseases.

For example, if you don't eat tomatoes, you won't die of a lycopene deficiency. But if you are a middle-aged male, the DNA in your prostate gland cells will sustain much more oxidative damage from free radicals, and you'll be much more likely to develop prostate cancer. Likewise, if you never eat soybeans, you won't die of an isoflavone deficiency. But if you are a woman approaching menopause, your risk of uterine cancer will increase severalfold.

So strong was the bias toward deficiency diseases, however, that the first phytochemicals to be discovered were squeezed into the vitamin category even thought they didn't quite fit. The bioflavonoids in citrus fruits, for example, were named vitamin P. The glucosinolates in cabbage were dubbed vitamin U (because they healed ulcers). The tocopherol compounds in nuts and seeds were called vitamin E--and, inexplicably, the entire lot of them has remained in the vitamin category.

The carotenoids are perhaps the most schizophrenic. The best known, most prevalent, and most researched of them--beta-carotene--is still treated as a vitamin, even though it isn't. Meanwhile, the other 599 or so carotenoids have been classified as phytochemicals.

Plant Protection

Why do plants make these protective compounds? Are they concerned for our health and welfare? No, not really (although that's a pleasant thought). They desperately need to protect themselves.

Plants must cope with all of the same threats to survival as we humans. Considering that they're under continual siege from ultraviolet radiation, soil and air pollutants, oxidation, viruses, bacteria, fungi, insects, animals, and people, the fact that they live as long as they do is a miracle. Their sedentary lifestyle compounds life's dangers. When an insect or a rodent starts gnawing on a plant, the plant can't scurry off to a safer location. When the sun's ultraviolet rays threaten to oxidize the skin of a plant, it can't mosey over to a shady spot or grab a bottle of sunscreen. To stay alive, a plant must stand its ground and "phyte."

Plants make phytochemicals to protect themselves. When we eat them, we become the benefactors of their resourcefulness.

Meet the Phytochemicals

Phytochemical biochemistry is so unbelievably complex that I can't possibly do it justice in just a few pages of this book. In fact, as I mentioned earlier, researchers have only scratched the surface in identifying these compounds and determining what they do in the body.

Phytochemicals are important because they establish a crucial bridge between the complexities of food composition and the complexities of cellular biology and cellular Renewal. By this I mean that the growing understanding of how phytochemicals work is inextricably linked to the unfolding insight about how cells survive assault by free radicals.

Remember the basics of Renewal? Phytochemicals play key roles in protecting cells from damage, in repairing damage that couldn't be prevented, and in regenerating cells that have been injured beyond repair. To give you a general idea of how phytochemicals facilitate Renewal once they get inside your cells, let's take a brief look at the major phytochemical categories. (Don't worry, there won't be a quiz.)

Terpenes

Terpenes are a huge class of phytochemicals found in a diverse array of plant foods, ranging from grains and soy products to citrus fruits and green foods. The carotenoid subclass alone contains more than 600 known compounds.

Terpenes function as antioxidants, protecting plants--and the humans who consume plants--from free radicals. These unusually potent antioxidants shield the sensitive fat molecules in cell membranes, as well as the blood and other bodily fluids, from free radical assault. Terpenes also "spare" other antioxidants such as coenzyme Q₁₀, glutathione, and vitamin E, allowing these antioxidants to be recycled and reused.

Carotenoid terpenes are the plant pigments that give fruits and vegetables such as oranges, pink grapefruit, spinach, and tomatoes their colors. These compounds enhance immune response and protect skin cells against the sun's ultraviolet radiation. Carotenoids are tissue-specific, so they work best when taken together rather than individually.

Limonoids, another subclass of terpenes, protect lung tissues and stimulate the production of liver detoxification enzymes. Limonoids are found in the peels of citrus fruits.

Phytosterols

Phytosterols bear a close resemblance to another sterol: cholesterol. These compounds are able to block cholesterol uptake, thus lowering the risk of heart disease. They also reduce inflammation and block the growth of tumors in the breasts, prostate, and colon.

Most plant species contain phytosterols. Large quantities can be found in pumpkins, rice, soybeans, yams, and all green and yellow vegetables.

Phenols

Researchers have taken quite an interest in the disease-defying properties of phenols, the compounds that give berries, grapes, and eggplant their blue, blue-red, and violet colors. Phenols are potent antioxidants. But they also have a remarkable ability to modify prostaglandin pathways, block specific enzymes that cause inflammation (relieving inflammatory conditions such as allergies, arthritis, autoimmune disease, and infections), and prevent platelets from clumping (protecting against heart attacks and strokes). What's more, phenols can discourage the development of cancer by blocking the conversion of precursor molecules into carcinogens.

Flavonoids. Also known as bioflavonoids, flavonoids are a very large subclass--more than 5,000 strong--of phenols. Some well-known members of this category include the quercetin in grapefruit, the rutin in buckwheat, the hesperidin in citrus fruits, the silybin in milk thistle, the genistein in soybeans, and the apigenin in chamomile.

Flavonoids may be best known for enhancing the effects of vitamin C. But they have therapeutic properties in their own right. For instance, they serve as enzyme inhibitors. They block the enzymes that produce estrogen, thus reducing the risk of estrogen-induced cancers. They impede angiotensin-converting enzyme, which raises blood pressure. And by blocking the enzyme cyclooxygenase, which breaks down prostaglandins, they reduce platelet stickiness and aggregation.

Flavonoids also protect blood vessels and strengthen the tiny capillaries that deliver oxygen and essential nutrients to all cells. For diabetes, hemorrhoids, varicose veins, and other conditions in which capillaries and smaller blood vessels become weak, I usually prescribe flavonoids and/or quercetin. Though blood vessels can be slow to heal and the therapy may last for several months, it often produces dramatic results.

Flavonoids have other health benefits as well. They reduce allergies, fight inflammation, and destroy hepatotoxins (substances that are toxic to the liver).

Flavonals. In addition to their powerful antioxidant activity, these select flavonoids strengthen collagen, the most abundant protein in the body. Collagen literally holds your body together: Intertwined strands of the stuff make up soft tissues, tendons, ligaments, and bones. Flavonals provide structural support for collagen by increasing the number of cross-links, or bridges, that connect neighboring collagen molecules to each other. This strengthens your support system and keeps you from sagging.

One subgroup of flavonals, the proanthocyanidins, are second only to melatonin in terms of their antioxidant potency. Proanthocyanidins are extracted from the bark of the maritime pine or Landes pine (as pycnogenol) as well as from grape seeds. They have enjoyed great commercial success because they relieve the subjective fatigue and related symptoms experienced by people under excessive oxidative stress (depletion of the body's antioxidant supply by free radicals). The range of conditions benefited by proanthocyanidins is enormous: These flavonals ease arthritis and allergies, lower cholesterol, strengthen capillaries, and promote healthy skin.

No matter what their form--the currently trendy pycnogenol or the equally effective grape seed extract--proanthocyanidins increase the efficacy of other antioxidants such as vitamins C and E. Specifically, proanthocyanidins recycle spent antioxidants by giving them back their lost electrons, so they can go right back to the front line and neutralize more free radicals. (As you'll recall from chapter 2, an antioxidant gives up its spare electron in order to stabilize a free radical.)

Isoflavones. Isoflavones--the best known are daidzein and genistein--exert weak estrogenic activity. They prevent cancer by loosely binding to estrogen receptor sites on cells, blocking them so that more powerful cancer-causing estrogen molecules can't dock there. Breast and uterine cancers are rare among women who consume traditional diets rich in soy foods. (Likewise, prostate cancer is uncommon among men who eat lots of soy foods.)

Like other phenols, isoflavones effectively block enzymes that promote tumor growth. And they inhibit new blood vessel growth (called angiogenesis), so tumors and metastases can't spread.

Isoflavones are found primarily in soybeans as well as other beans. Getting more soy into your diet from sources such as tofu and soy milk is a brilliant strategy for reducing your risk of cancer.

Catechins and gallic acid. Green tea, black tea, and even coffee contain phenolic antioxidants that have been shown to lower cholesterol and prevent cancer.

Chemically, catechins look like flavonoids. They share the protective properties of flavonoids. The most common catechins--epicatechin, epicatechin gallate, and epigallocatechin gallate--are found in green tea.

Gallic acid can inhibit the formation of nitrosamines and other carcinogens. It's also anti-mutagenic, that is, it prevents genetic mutation. Gallic acid is a component of coffee.

Thiols

Members of this class of phytochemicals contain sulfur. The allylic sulfides mentioned above are one example. Thiols come from garlic and cruciferous vegetables.

Glucosinolates. Cruciferous vegetables contain glucosinolates, potent little molecules that perform a variety of functions. The glucosinolates in your bok choy, broccoli, cabbage, or cauliflower stimulate the production of cytokines. Cytokines are hormonelike messenger molecules that choreograph your immune defenses, ensuring a smooth and accurate response to foreign invaders and free radicals.

Glucosinolates also switch on your liver's detoxification enzymes, which are your blood's garbage removal system. And they activate scavenging white blood cells, which remove foreign and toxic debris.

But glucosinolates don't stop there. They can biochemically "morph" into a variety of other protective molecules, including dithiolthiones, isothiocyanates, and sulforaphane. Each of these compounds protects specific tissues. And each packs an anti-cancer wallop, blocking enzymes that promote tumor growth in the esophagus, breasts, lungs, stomach, liver, colon, and elsewhere. Sulforaphane, in particular, has enjoyed more than its 15 minutes of fame. This unassuming molecule, found in abundance in broccoli, has garnered a lot of attention for its aggressive anti-cancer activity.

Allylic sulfides. Allylic sulfides, a subgroup of the phytochemicals known as thiols, safeguard your cells against oxidative damage by free radicals. These compounds protect the cardiovascular and immune systems, prevent cancer, and thwart genetic mutation. Specifically, they lower cholesterol; reduce the stickiness of blood platelets, which form blood clots; act as natural antibiotics against viruses, bacteria, fungi, and parasites; and block tumor growth.

You get allylic sulfides from chives, garlic, leeks, onions, and shallots. When you cut or smash one of these plants, the damaged cells release enzymes, which then activate the allylic sulfides. Take garlic as an example: The enzyme allicinase activates allicin, garlic's allylic sulfide.

Indoles. Despite intimidating names like 3,3-dindolylmethane, indole-3-carbinol, and indole-3-acetonitrite, indoles are actually friendly phytochemicals. Add them to your list of anti-cancer allies. They increase your production of enzymes that inactivate food toxins and carcinogens while also increasing production of glutathione, one of your principal free radical scavengers.

You get a healthy dose of indoles every time you eat a member of the Brassica (crucifer) family, which includes bok choy, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, collard greens, kale, mustard greens, rutabaga, and turnips. Because indoles are easily destroyed during cooking, either steam your crucifers or eat them raw.

Tocopherols

What you probably know as vitamin E actually is a group of structurally similar phytochemicals that includes d-alpha, d-beta, d-gamma, and d-delta tocopherols. Together these compounds form the vitamin E complex.

Vitamin E is among the premier protectors of cell membranes. Way back in chapters 2 and 3, I explained that these membranes are made from fatty acid molecules lined up alongside each other in rows. Because the membranes safeguard cells and organelles, keeping them healthy is key to a longer life. This is where vitamin E comes in. Like a sentinel, it stands guard over cell membranes, ready to grab and dispatch would-be invaders.

Remember the galloping hordes of free radical Huns that would storm the Great Wall of your membranes and invade your cells and organelles? Well, think of vitamin E as the Great Defender. It waits, hidden in the fatty acid matrix of a membrane. Then when a free radical approaches the membrane, the vitamin E molecule grabs it and neutralizes it by giving it an electron (as any antioxidant would do).

Of course, once vitamin E gives up its electron, it becomes oxidized. But within a few nanoseconds, a beta-carotene, coenzyme Q₁₀, glutathione, or vitamin C molecule comes along and donates its spare electron to vitamin E. Once recycled, the vitamin E molecule can grab and neutralize another marauding free radical.

Tocopherols occur naturally in seeds, nuts, soybeans, wheat germ, and whole grains. But you cannot get optimum amounts from diet alone. So be sure that your personal anti-aging supplement program includes 400 to 1,600 international units per day of mixed tocopherols from natural (not synthetic) sources. (Look for the phrases "mixed tocopherols" and "natural sources" on the supplement label.) D-alpha tocopherol alone, whether synthetic or natural, will not suffice. Nor will products containing the "l" form of tocopherol, which is an ineffective mirror image molecule.

Note: People who are taking blood thinners should consult their doctors before taking supplemental vitamin E.

Isoprenoids

Isoprenoids attach themselves to the fatty membranes surrounding your cells and their internal organelles such as the mitochondria. Like microscopic Venus flytraps, these crafty molecules lie in wait, poised to grab passing free radicals. Upon handcuffing a free radical, the isoprenoid turns it over to a more mobile antioxidant molecule, such as coenzyme Q₁₀, glutathione, or vitamin C. Isoprenoids come from grains, nuts, and seeds.

Superstar Food Sources

Because thousands of different phytochemicals exist, and because each one contributes to your health in its own unique way, consuming a variety of these compounds is absolutely essential. You can get them only from plant-derived foods--grains, legumes, fruits, and vegetables. Conveniently enough, these are the stars of the New Four Food Groups, which form the foundation of the Anti-Aging Diet.

In terms of phytochemical content, the following plant-derived foods stand out as especially healthful.

Garlic and Onions

Garlic and onions as well as chives, leeks, scallions, and shallots belong to the Allium family. These nutritional powerhouses contain upward of 200 phytochemical compounds, including diallyl disulfide, one of the most potent tumor suppressors known.

The list of benefits provided by the Allium family is very long. Garlic, onions, and their relatives boost immunity, block atherosclerosis (hardening and clogging of the arteries), prevent just about every type of cancer, fight infection, and serve as a virtual launching pad for Renewal. (You can find out more about the therapeutic powers of garlic in chapter 28.)

For a tasty anti-aging treat, place a few cloves of garlic in a coffee cup and drizzle a very small amount of olive oil over the top. Cover the cup and microwave for five seconds per clove. This softens the garlic so it pops right out of its shell. You can eat it as is or add it to a salad or just about any other dish.

Soybeans

Simple but superb, the soybean is nothing less than a phytopharmaceutical warehouse stocked with Renewal-enhancing nutrients. No other food contains as many different anti-aging compounds. No other food contains as many different anti-cancer compounds. No other food, with the possible exception of garlic, prevents as many different diseases. No other plant-derived food contains all of the essential amino acids: Like meat, soy is a complete protein.

Soy's ability to safeguard the heart and prevent heart attacks and strokes has been known for more than 80 years. The isoflavone compounds in soy lower total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and triglyceride levels, while raising "good" high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol.

Isoflavones such as daidzein, genistein, and glycetein also inhibit the development of cancer. Of these, genistein is probably the best known. Since its discovery 10 years ago, several hundred papers have appeared documenting its anti-cancer effects.

Genistein suppresses the growth of every kind of cancer cell. It can even rehabilitate cancer cells, restoring them to a normal, precancerous state. Plus, genistein and other isoflavones are phytoestrogenic. In other words, they act like weak estrogens, blocking estrogen receptor sites on cells so that they can't be occupied by cancer-causing molecules.

Isoflavones have even more weapons in their anti-cancer arsenal. They influence the synthesis of tumor proteins, slow the growth of malignant cells, block pro-cancer enzymes, and inhibit the growth of blood vessels that nourish tumors.

Phytates, another compound in soybeans, defend against cancer by controlling abnormal cell growth and chelating excess iron, an oxidizing agent that encourages cancer as well as heart disease. And phytates act as antioxidants, helping to scavenge cell-damaging (and cancer-causing) free radicals. Studies have shown that people who eat soy regularly have lower rates of just about every type of cancer. This includes cancers of the lung, stomach, prostate, colon, and rectum.

Soybeans are rich in protease inhibitors. These compounds have been in the news lately as an effective treatment for HIV. And like isoflavones and phytates, protease inhibitors help to prevent cancer by deactivating certain cancer-promoting proteins.

Soybeans are also among the best sources of antioxidant, anti-heart disease, anti-cancer tocopherols. In fact, supplement manufacturers use soy to make vitamin E capsules.

As a food, soy is as versatile as it is healthful. Many stores carry baked marinated tofu, which you can eat as is, blend into a stir-fry, or use as filling for a tasty sandwich. Tempeh, a fermented soy product that is high in protein and an excellent source of genistein, has a meaty texture that makes it especially suitable for casseroles and stir-fries. Miso, a salty paste made from fermented soybeans, makes a great soup base. Just dissolve it in hot water and add other soup ingredients. You can also use miso to flavor salad dressings, sauces, and stews.

Other suggestions: Try prepared burgers made from tofu, tempeh, or textured soy protein. Add soy cheese to sandwiches, pizza, and soy burgers. Substitute soy milk for cow's milk on your cereal. (It probably will taste strange at first, but give it a chance. I needed a couple of weeks to adjust to soy milk, but now I prefer it to cow's milk.) You can buy all of these soy products in health food stores and some grocery stores.

Admittedly, soy foods can take some getting used to. But I strongly encourage you to open up your diet to tofu, tempeh, miso, and other soy products. I recommend consuming at least one serving of soy per day. That's about three ounces of tofu, ½ cup of tempeh or miso, or 1 cup of soy milk.

Personally, I don't eat soy at every meal. But I do average at least one serving a day. Believe me, it's worth it.

Cruciferous Vegetables

They've been described as wonder drugs cleverly disguised as vegetables. And no wonder: The crucifers--which include arugula, bok choy, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, collards, kale, kohlrabi, mustard greens, rutabaga, turnips, and watercress--are blessed with an astounding abundance of phytochemicals and other important nutrients.

All crucifers contain potent anti-cancer antioxidant compounds such as indole-3-carbinol, isothiocyanates, and sulforaphane. They also have folic acid, which helps maintain heart health and blocks the development of colon cancer and polyps. Throw in their oversize helpings of vitamins A and C, beta-carotene, and fiber, and you have a winning nutritional combination that boosts immunity, fends off tumors and infections, and fights aging.

Orange, Red, and Yellow Fruits and Vegetables

What creates the rainbow of colors that fruits and vegetables are famous for? Carotenoids--more than 600 of them and still counting.

The most extensively researched category of phytochemicals, carotenoids defend DNA against free radical damage, enhance the immune system, improve intellectual functioning, and protect aging eyes from the oxidative stress that usually manifests itself as cataracts or macular degeneration (a condition characterized by cellular breakdown in the retina that leads to vision loss). Carotenoids also prevent every conceivable type of cancer. In fact, some can even reverse cancer once it has started.

A complete listing of all of the carotenoids, along with all of the fruits and vegetables that contain each one, would be extremely long. So here's an abbreviated version, just to whet your appetite to the possibilities.

• Alpha-carotene: apples, carrots, corn, green peppers, leafy greens, peaches, potatoes, squash, and watermelons

• Beta-carotene: apricots, carrots, green peppers, leafy greens, spinach, squash, and sweet potatoes

• Capsanthin: sweet red peppers

• Cryptoxanthin: apples, apricots, corn, green peppers, lemons, oranges, papayas, and persimmons

• Lutein: carrots, corn, potatoes, spinach, and tomatoes

• Lycopene: apricots, carrots, green peppers, pink grapefruit, and tomatoes

• Zeaxanthin: corn and spinach

Whole Grains

Whether they're common (corn, oats, rice, and wheat) or exotic (amaranth, kamut, quinoa, and spelt), grains pack in the nutrients. They offer abundant supplies of the B-complex vitamins, including folic acid; vitamin E; minerals such as calcium, iron, magnesium, and zinc; amino acids and essential fatty acids; and, of course, fiber.

fiber is arguably the most beneficial of all the compounds in grains. It lowers cholesterol and blood pressure, helping to protect against heart disease. It also prevents colon cancer, Type II diabetes, and obesity. (You'll read more about fiber in chapter 30.)

Grains supply an array of phytochemicals as well. Phenolic acids, for example, protect DNA from free radical assault. Phytates put the kibosh on breast cancer in its earliest stages, before it gets a foothold. Flavonoids and lignans also inhibit the development of cancer.

Unfortunately, processing robs a grain of all of its Renewal- enhancing nutrients. All of the goodies are stripped away, leaving a pale, starchy shadow in their wake.

In a six-year study of 65,000 women, researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health found that those who ate refined grains (white breads, white rice, and pasta made from refined flour) had 2½ times the risk of developing Type II diabetes compared with those who ate whole-grain breads, rice, and pasta. Why? Digestive enzymes quickly convert refined grains into sugar. And without fiber to slow it down, sugar gets absorbed too rapidly and raises blood sugar too quickly. This triggers the pancreas to produce excess insulin. Eventually, the overworked pancreas and the overstimulated insulin receptors in the liver and muscles fail, resulting in diabetes.

Make sure that the pastas, cereals, breads, and other baked goods you eat come from whole, unprocessed grains. In the Smith household, we avoid white flour, white rice, and processed grains like the plague. All of our pastas, cereals, breads, crackers, and flours are whole grain and organic.

Citrus Fruits

If you haven't already decided that I'm a little nutty, this may convince you: When I eat my daily orange or grapefruit, I thoroughly chew the seeds and then swallow them. Not only that, I also gnaw on and ingest the fluffy white stuff between the orange or grapefruit pulp and the rind.

Why? Well, the seeds and the rind (but not the pulp) contain limonoids, powerful phytochemicals that deactivate carcinogens. And the pith--the fluffy white stuff found in all citrus fruits (grapefruit has the most)--is jam-packed with flavonoids.

Citrus fruits are among the most potent and most tasty cancer-fighting foods around. Beyond vitamin C and fiber, at least 60 anti-cancer phytochemicals lurk beneath those shiny rinds--more than in any other food.

To benefit from these nutrients, though, you must eat fresh citrus fruits. Any type of processing removes virtually all of the phytochemicals, essential nutrients, and fiber, leaving behind a blend of sugar and water. This goes for canned fruits as well as canned, cartoned, and bottled fruit juices.

Miscellaneous Fruits

I've already discussed the stellar phytochemical content of citrus fruits. But truth be told, you can't go wrong with any fruit: All are packed with phytochemicals and other healing nutrients. Here's just a sampling.

• Apricots and cantaloupes are rich in carotenoids and vitamin C.

• Bananas supply pectin fiber, which stabilizes blood sugar, and magnesium and potassium, which foster heart and circulatory health.

• Kiwifruit, papayas, and pineapples contain bromelain, an anti-inflammatory enzyme that enhances immunity and fights allergies and autoimmune diseases such as arthritis.

• Mangoes supply carotenoids and flavonoids.

• Strawberries contain ellagic acid and lycopene, both potent cancer fighters.

• Tomatoes are the number one source of lycopene.

Legumes

While no food is perfect, legumes sure come close. The soybean earns the highest honors (you'll read more about it in a bit). But any of its cousins certainly qualifies as a close runner-up.

Legumes--including adzuki beans, black beans, brown beans, chickpeas, kidney beans, lentils, mung beans, navy beans, pinto beans, red beans, and split peas--provide a bounty of Renewal-enhancing phytochemicals. Legumes protect against cancer, thanks to their high contents of phytoestrogenic lignins and isoflavonoids, proteases, and phytates. They lower total cholesterol and "bad" low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, dramatically reducing the risk of heart disease. And they stabilize blood sugar levels, helping to prevent obesity and Type II (non-insulin-dependent) diabetes.

Besides their outstanding phytochemical content, legumes are low in fat, high in complex carbohydrates and protein, loaded with soluble and insoluble fiber, and chock-full of essential fatty acids. In short, they're the ideal anti-aging food.

Tomatoes

Tomatoes taste so good that you may have a hard time believing they're healthy. Yet these juicy, red pommes d'amours--"love apples," as the French call them--are perhaps your best all-around insurance policy against degenerative disease and premature death.

Though loaded with anti-aging nutrients such as vitamins A and C and the powerful antioxidant glutathione, tomatoes may be best known for their exceptional levels of lycopene. One of 600-plus carotenoids, lycopene is a very powerful antioxidant that blocks cancer formation and slows cancer progression once it has a foothold. It is particularly adept at preventing and reversing prostate cancer, although it works against all types of cancer. One Harvard University study showed that regular tomato consumption can slash cancer risk in half.

While the whole story is not yet clear, research suggests that lycopene safeguards against cancer in a number of ways. First, as a more potent antioxidant than alpha-carotene and beta-carotene, lycopene neutralizes singlet oxygen, one of the nastiest free radicals of all. Second, lycopene suppresses cancer cell growth by inhibiting DNA synthesis in cancer cells. Third, lycopene totally blocks insulin-like growth factor-1, and it may have a similar effect on other tumor growth factors. In short, the lycopene in tomatoes whips your body's cancer defenses into overdrive.

Tomatoes are fruits, so eat them as you would apples. I love them au naturel. You can also drizzle a small amount of olive oil over them and bake them with basil, cut them into salads, or turn them into salsa. The cherry tomato is just as healthful as larger varieties and, in the words of Miss Manners (Judith Martin), is "a marvelous invention, producing as it does a satisfactorily explosive squish when bitten."

Unlike many phytochemicals, lycopene holds up nicely when exposed to heat. So concentrated tomato products such as sauces and pastes have significantly higher concentrations of lycopene than ripe tomatoes. (Of course, processing blasts the B vitamins and vitamin C to smithereens.) Try whole-grain pastas topped with tomato sauce, and soups, stews, and casseroles with tomato bases.

Tomatoes go well with garlic, another anti-aging superfood. One of my favorite dishes is the pizza my wife, Dellie, cooks up every couple of weeks: tomato paste, garlic, a touch of olive oil, onions, and other chopped vegetable toppings on a whole-grain crust. Yum.

As part of my anti-aging strategy, I make sure to eat at least one whole tomato (or the equivalent in tomato sauce or paste) just about every day. I urge you to do the same.

Oriental Mushrooms

The enoki, oyster, reishi, shiitake, and tree ear varieties of oriental mushrooms contain compounds that lower cholesterol and block cancer. They're also rich in beta-glucan, an immune system stimulant that can ward off viral infections if taken soon after exposure and that treats all immunological disorders. (I prescribe beta-glucan in capsule form to patients with chronic fatigue immune dysfunction syndrome and others with compromised immune systems as well as to anyone who wants to avoid colds and flu.)

The basic white mushrooms that you find in the produce section of most supermarkets do not have the same therapeutic properties as the oriental mushrooms. In fact, the most common varieties contain high levels of carcinogenic hydrazines, corrosive compounds that have been used as fuel for jet engines.

Chili Peppers

These hot little numbers contain capsaicin, a phenol that has gotten a lot of press lately for its pain-relieving properties. It also protects DNA from oxidative damage, thins blood to protect against heart attack and stroke, and thins mucus to ease congestion.

Turmeric

Turmeric gives prepared mustard its distinctive yellow color. It also happens to be a powerful antioxidant.

Turmeric protects against heart disease by lowering total cholesterol, raising HDL cholesterol, and preventing abnormal blood clotting. When volunteers were given one-half gram of turmeric daily, their HDL levels rose by 29 percent in just one week. Meanwhile, their serum lipid peroxides--a measure of free radical activity in damaging blood fats--plummeted by 33 percent.

That's not all. Turmeric neutralizes dietary carcinogens and blocks cancer in all three stages: initiation, promotion, and progression. The spice also fights infection and inhibits replication of HIV.

Debunking Zoonutrients

You'll notice that all of the foods above come from plants. That's because only plants contain phytochemicals. True, researchers haven't zeroed in on animal-derived foods, but that's because they already know what they would find: nothing. To borrow from American writer Gertrude Stein, "There is no there there."

Phytochemicals draw a very clear line between the plant kingdom (intrinsically mundane but healthful to eat) and the animal kingdom (fun to look at--in zoos, at least--but age-accelerating when eaten). Oblivious to the compelling consistency of this line and unable to let go of their cravings for fat and protein, some hard-core carnivores remain convinced that since plants have protective ingredients, animals must have them as well. And so they've coined the term zoonutrient, a scientific non sequitur that's intended to parallel the phytochemical concept.

While plants contain thousands of different protective nutrients, all that has ever been identified in animals is fish oil (which contains docosahexanoic acid and eicosapentanoic acid, both omega-3 fatty acids). In exchange for this token benefit of eating fish, you expose yourself to a fusillade of toxins--including brain-addling methylmercury, concentrated pesticides, and bacteria--as well as to a hefty dose of cholesterol. Eating fish to get healthier is like stepping in front of a moving bus to pick up a quarter.

What about the report that Eskimos, who eat large quantities of omega-3-rich fish, have lower rates of heart disease? That infamous fish story has been thoroughly debunked. Harvard University researchers--aware that eating fish doesn't lower cholesterol but curious as to whether the omega-3 fatty acids in fish offer any heart protection--followed more than 44,000 male health professionals for six years. As the researchers reported in the New England Journal of Medicine, the men who ate the most fish had the most heart attacks. This proved to be the coup de grâce for an idea that was flawed from the get-go.

So let's keep fish in the disease-promoting column where it belongs. Get your omega-3's from flaxseed oil and soy oil as well as from beans and vegetables. Plant-derived foods provide the nutritional goods with no negative trade-offs.

What You Eat (and Don't Eat) Can Hurt You

You already know that animal-derived foods undermine your health and hasten your demise. But steering clear of these foods is only half of the health equation. The other half? Fortifying your protective and healing systems with a low-fat vegan diet based on the New Four Food Groups: grains, legumes, fruits, and vegetables. The discovery of phytochemicals dramatically illustrates the importance of doing so.

Every time you eat a health-eroding animal-derived food, you deprive yourself of a health-enhancing plant-derived food. Nutritionally, you're taking two steps backward. I'm not saying that a single serving of roast beef, Swiss cheese, or rocky road ice cream is enough to do you in. But the more you indulge, the more the damage adds up, as cells struggle to survive against escalating numbers of free radicals.

This raises another important point: Animal-derived foods not only lack phytochemicals, they actually deplete your reserves of the nutrients. Your body has to dip into its phytochemical and antioxidant stores in order to process animal-derived food. So really, you're taking three steps backward. Catching up requires major effort--at the very least, several days of enlightened eating.

By now you can see why consuming animal-derived foods on a daily basis can pave the way to heart disease, cancer, osteoporosis, arthritis, cataracts, and a host of other degenerative ills. Think of it in terms of the following equation:

Plant Foods ÷ Animal Foods = Health and Longevity

In other words, the more plant-derived foods you eat, and the fewer animal-derived foods you eat, the better your chances of achieving optimum health and maximum life span.

Maximizing Phytochemical Consumption

The Anti-Aging Diet presented in part 2 of this book shifts your eating focus from animal-derived foods to plant-derived foods. Follow the diet, and you'll naturally increase your intake of grains, legumes, fruits, and vegetables--the foods that supply phytochemicals. Remember, the more phytochemicals you consume, the stronger your protection against disease and aging.

No single plant food contains all of the phytochemicals. So get in the habit of varying your diet--within the realm of the New Four Food Groups, of course. There you will find a two-week menu plan, along with meal ideas and recipes. Use these to broaden your culinary horizons.

For extra protection, I recommend taking one or two capsules of a phytochemical supplement every day. Look for a product that combines 17 different fruits and vegetables.

Disease-"Phyters" at Work

In case you're not yet sold on the importance of phytochemicals to long-term health, perhaps the story of Karen, one of my patients, can persuade you. A registered nurse, Karen was the victim of a malfunctioning immune system. She felt tired all the time. She suffered from multiple allergies--to foods, inhalants, and environmental chemicals such as perfumes and car exhaust. She had yeast syndrome (or candidiasis), recurrent infections, and ongoing gastrointestinal problems.

Karen had been following a low-fat vegan diet, supplementing essential nutrients and antioxidants, and using other immune-enhancing therapies. Still, she wasn't getting better.

Suspecting that Karen may have a free radical overload, I ordered an oxidative stress panel. This test includes three measures of free radical activity: hydroxyl free radical level; serum lipid peroxide level, which indicates the extent to which blood fats and cell membranes are being oxidized; and glutathione level. These measures show whether free radicals are depleting a patient's antioxidant supply.

Karen's test revealed severe oxidative stress. Her hydroxyl free radical level and serum lipid peroxide level were quite high, while her glutathione level was quite low.

Based on Karen's test results, my next step was to determine the source of her oxidative stress. I ordered an antioxidant profile, which evaluates blood levels of several key antioxidants: vitamins A and C, coenzyme Q₁₀, alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, alpha-tocopherol, gamma-tocopherol, and lycopene. A deficiency of even one of these nutrients would weaken the entire antioxidant protective network. They can run low for any number of reasons, including insufficient amounts in the diet, poor absorption in the intestines, and excessive numbers of free radicals.

Karen's antioxidant profile disclosed that while her levels of vitamins A and C and gamma-tocopherol were within the normal range, her levels of coenzyme Q₁₀, alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, alpha-tocopherol, and lycopene were dangerously low. The depleted antioxidants fit her symptom picture of immune deficiency, fatigue, allergies, and frequent infections.

I explained to Karen that her antioxidant protective armor had developed holes, which left her cells vulnerable to free radical damage. This was driving her health problems. To help her replace the missing antioxidants, I developed a list of top-notch food sources. I advised her to eat lots of tomatoes for lycopene and orange, red, and yellow fruits and vegetables for carotenoids. I also prescribed a mixed carotenoid supplement and a coenzyme Q₁₀ supplement (because no food supplies significant amounts of this nutrient). This program would repair Karen's antioxidant protective armor, thus allowing her body--and, in particular, her immune system--to heal.

When Karen returned two months later for her follow-up exam, her symptoms were much improved. She felt more energetic, her allergies had diminished, her candidiasis had subsided, and her gastrointestinal tract was back on track. She had even begun exercising, something she couldn't manage before. A repeat antioxidant profile indicated that her nutritional program had successfully elevated the levels of all the key antioxidants to within normal range.

I would follow this same protocol to detect and correct oxidative stress in anyone who wants maximum protection against free radicals. It's the most efficient and effective way to optimize Renewal and extend life span.

Looking to the Future

The discovery of the phytochemicals underscores the nutritional importance of plant-derived foods while pounding another nail in the coffin of animal-derived foods. These supernutrients will dominate nutritional news in the twenty-first century, as new information emerges about their contributions to health and longevity.

Scientific exploration of the vast phytochemical terrain has only just begun. But even at this early stage, one thing is absolutely certain: Only foods from the plant kingdom contain these healing nutrients. Better to head for these greener pastures than to venture into the animal kingdom's nutritional wasteland.

Yes, changing your dietary direction may pose some challenges. On the other hand, isn't it exciting to know that you can increase both the quantity and quality of your life simply by eating more plant-derived foods?

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With their amazing anti-aging properties, herbs are a natural choice for the Anti-Aging Supplement Program. In the next three chapters, I profile what I consider to be the cream of the herbal crop: ginseng, ginkgo, and garlic. This trio has shown the most promise in terms of protecting against degenerative disease and staving off the effects of aging. First on deck: ginseng.