When it comes to alternative forms of medicine, just about everyone becomes a sceptic. There are a few reasons for this, but one of them is the reductionist form of science that we like to practice today. This had led to a movement of people relying on pills before trying to find other methods of fixing themselves, despite the pills leading to severe side effects. But it doesn’t take much nutritional research to quickly find that plants are even more powerful than pills, containing a wide range of organic chemicals and compounds that the human body is able to use to keep itself healthy and strong.
Here we will explore some of those compounds and why we should all be using plants more often for both diet and medicine.
Antioxidants
A piece of metal, such as iron, left in water and without any kind of protective paint, will eventually begin to oxidise, or rust. But it might come as a surprise to learn that this is a process that our bodies undergo, too, except through different means. Free radicals can be found in a variety of different foods, almost always processed, and they can lead to serious problems down the line. One way to counteract these free radicals is by eating plants; specifically, whole foods like leafy greens and cruciferous vegetables. These contain compounds known as antioxidants, which are the body’s most potent defence against free radicals.
Fibre
An animal or human cell is surrounded by a soft and flexible cell wall that keeps everything contained, but they tend to have weaker defences. Plant cells, on the other hand, are coated in a hard outer casing that keeps them safe from external damage much more effectively. This casing is known as plant fibre, and it’s something that the human digestive tract has evolved around for the last 20 years. There are countless studies showing the benefits of eating fibre every day, and most of the evidence points toward trying to eat at least 65 grams daily. On average, most people in western countries only consume around 20 grams or less a day, and it’s one of the reasons that heart disease and cancer rates have skyrocketed in the last few decades.
Nitrate-Rich Vegetables
All cells require oxygen to function correctly, and depriving the body of adequate oxygen for too long can cause long term cell damage. All of our oxygen requirements come from the air that we breath, but depending on how many plants a person eats every day, the amount of oxygen that they can actually use can differ greatly. This is where plants rich in nitrate come in to play, which includes beets and dark, leafy greens. The main ingredient here is nitric oxide, which has been proven in studies to improve the efficient of our blood when it comes to transporting fresh oxygen around the body, and it’s food for everything from exercise to work to playing slots Canada online. The more nitrate-rich plants we consume, the better the flow of oxygen, and the better our bodies are able to function.