What are phytochemicals

Phytochemicals (aka phytonutrients) are naturally occurring plant-based chemicals. The root of the word, ‘phyto’, comes from the Greek word for plant (phytón). Thus, phytochemicals are literally ‘plant chemicals’ or ‘plant nutrients’.

Phytochemcials give plant foods and beverages their colours. The bright red of a tomato or dark red of a glass of red wine. The orange of a carrot. The green of leaves and green tea. The deep, dark brown of coffee and chocolate.

The more colour, the higher a food's phytochemical content.

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The health benefits of phytochemicals

Phytochemicals protect us from pretty much every chronic disease on the planet.[1] Interestingly, it’s now thought they’re what makes the Mediterranean diet so healthy.

Epidemiological research shows that diets high in plant foods (fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds, legumes, tea, coffee, red wine) are inversely associated with the risk of many major chronic diseases, including:

• Cardiovascular disease

• Diabetes

• Obesity

• Cancers

• Osteoporosis

• Neuro-degenerative conditions

• And inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), which includes ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease.[2]

The relationship is dose-response – the more plant foods consumed, the lower the risk of disease.

How phytochemicals protect our health

Phytochemicals protect our health via a range of biological mechanisms. They’re:

1. Antioxidant

2. Anti-inflammatory

3. Anti-cancer

4. Neuroprotective

5. Metabolism-regulating

6. And much more![2,3]

Why you should eat the rainbow

Each different plant food or beverage colour signifies different phytochemicals, each with its own unique health benefits. An inbuilt system of colour-coded bioactive superpowers, if you like.

So, to reap the full range of benefit, all you need to do is eat the rainbow and nature will cleverly take care of the rest!

Sonnda’s top 10 tips for eating the rainbow

Here are my top 10 tips to make a cinch out of eating the rainbow.

1. Shop the rainbow – assuming you have low food waste, it’s much easier to monitor at the point of purchase rather than consumption. Put fruit and veg from all five colour groups in your shopping cart, eat them as you fancy throughout the week, and you know you’ve covered all bioactive bases!

2. Bust out the berries for breakfast – get your day off to a bright start with a handful of berries with breakfast. Not only do they taste delicious, they’re also low-sugar and high-fibre, helping to regulate your blood sugar on into the rest of the day.

3. Get varied with veggie smoothies – if you like to kickstart the day with a smoothie, major on the veg rather than fruit. And don’t get stuck in a fave colour groove. Instead, rotate across all five colours of the veggie rainbow: red, orange/yellow, green, blue/purple/black, white.

4. Change up your soups – every time you make a batch of soup, choose a feature veg from a different colour of the rainbow. Work your way across the colour spectrum: red, orange/yellow, green, blue/purple/black, white. And then hit repeat, selecting different seasonal veg as you go.

5. Eat seasonally, locally and a little bit wild – let nature do the brainwork for you and simply follow the seasons to splash your diet with colour. Not only will you totally nail diversity, seasonal eating makes your diet (and days!) fun, varied and interesting. Buying local produce increases the chances of nutritional diversity and optimises nutrient content. Fruit and veg lose nutrients after they’re picked, due to respiration (yep, they continue to breathe) and enzymatic activity. The further produce travels, the longer the time from harvest to consumption, the more nutrient loss. Shopping local also benefits the environment and supports the local economy – post-COVID, more important than ever. Lastly, turn up the dial on diversity with a dash of wild food – foraged by yourself or plucked from your local greengrocer’s shelves. Your gut will love you for it, the number of different plant foods in your diet being THE single greatest determinant of gut health, which underpins whole body health (digestive, metabolic, immune, hormonal, neurological, skin health).

6. Get your ≥5-A-DAY – and if you’re smashing it, keep on going for extra benefit. Evidence shows there are significant health benefits to getting at least five portions of fruit and vegetables every day. A portion is 80g, so that’s a minimum of 400g per day. Shoot for 1-2 portions of fruit each day, have 2 portions of veg at lunch and another 2 portions at dinner and you’ll totally smash the target! Why five? Simply because the public health community thought five was an achievable target for most people. The relationship is actually dose-response: the more fruit and veg you eat, the lower your risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer and all-cause mortality.[4] In other words, the more you eat, the better – at least, up to 10 portions (800g) a day. So, if five feels easy-peasy, keep on going for added benefit.

7. Enjoy the cacao bean in its many guises – most of cacao’s phytochemicals (polyphenols and methylxanthines) reside in the dark part of the bean, found in dark chocolate, cacao mass, cacao nibs and cocoa powder. However, contrary to popular belief, there are also small amounts in cacao butter (methylxanthines).[5] So, enjoy this delicious little bean in all its delicious forms! To minimise sugar intake, choose dark chocolate with a minimum of 85% cocoa solids; 90% or 100% (no sugar) is even better. Add cacao mass to porridges, smoothies and bakes. Stir a pinch of cocoa powder into chia pudding, yoghurt and kefir for your own homemade chocolate version. Sprinkle nibs on breakfast and dessert. Round off a meal with a square or two of 90% and some nuts. Bake and cook with cocoa butter; try it in savoury dishes for a lustrous richness – it’s not sweet, it simply makes the star ingredient taste like the best version of itself. My personal fave savoury applications: omelettes and sautéed Tenderstem broccoli. Close out the day with a comforting cup of cocoa.

8. Make time for tea – tea is packed with many different polyphenols, especially matcha as you consume the whole leaf, very finely ground, versus an infusion. For the last 12 years, I’ve been buying my tea from Postcard Teas – specialists in the very best teas from small tea farms. Teas that not only taste exceptional, but are best for the people who make them, place and planet. My personal favourites include their Uji Matcha, Gyokuroesque, Undercover (which can be enjoyed as a gyokuro or sencha), and Spring High Mountain Oolong. If you prefer black tea, their Spring Darjeeling is a very special example. I love to start the day with a frothy, creamy matcha latte – get the recipe here.

9. Get into coffee culture – coffee is another fantastic source of polyphenols. And with all the specialist coffee shops springing up all over the country, it’s so easy to enjoy exceptionally good coffee these days. If you’re local to Glasgow’s west end, my favourite is Perch & Rest on Otago St. Their coffee is the best I’ve ever tasted – incomparably smooth, fruity and exceptionally well balanced.

10. Enjoy a glass of red wine with meals or friends, but keep it moderate. The current UK drinking guidelines advise limiting alcohol intake to 14 units a week, for both men and women, equivalent to no more than 7 medium-sized glasses of wine (175ml, 12% ABV).[6] However, a recent meta-analysis including data from almost 600,000 people in 19 different countries showed that it’s best to drink no more than 12.5 units of alcohol/week,[7] equivalent to 8 small (125ml) or 5 medium (175ml) glasses of wine (12% ABV). If you want to drink less, the evidence shows that having several alcohol-free days each week is a good way to cut down.[6]
    

Want to know more about phytochemicals?

Check out my sister article for further details, Why You Should Eat the Rainbow.

References

1. Liu RH. Potential synergy of phytochemicals in cancer prevention: Mechanism of action. The Journal of Nutrition. 2004;134(12):3479S–3485S. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1093/jn/134.12.3479S.

2. Zhang YJ, Gan RY, Li S, et al. Antioxidant phytochemicals for the prevention and treatment of chronic diseases. Molecules. 2015;20(12):21138-21156. Available from: doi:10.3390/molecules201219753.

3. Upadhyay S, Dixit M. Role of polyphenols and other phytochemicals on molecular signalling. Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity. 2015;2015:504253. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1155/2015/504253.

4. Aune D, Giovannucci E, Boffetta P, et al. Fruit and vegetable intake and the risk of cardiovascular disease, total cancer and all-cause mortality—a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of prospective studies. International Journal of Epidemiology. 2017;46(3):1029-1056. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyw319.

5. Franco R, Oñatibia-Astibia A, Martínez-Pinilla E. Health benefits of methylxanthines in cacao and chocolate. Nutrients. 2013;5(10):4159-4173. Available from: doi:10.3390/nu5104159.

6. Department of Health & Social Care. UK Chief Medical Officers’ Low Risk Drinking Guidelines 2016. London: Williams Lea; 2016. Available from: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/545937/UK_CMOs__report.pdf.

7. Wood AM, Kaptoge S, Butterworth AS, et al. Risk thresholds for alcohol consumption: combined analysis of individual-participant data for 599,912 current drinkers in 83 prospective studies. The Lancet. 2018;391(10129):1513–1523. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(18)30134-X.