Question: What do lycopene, isothiocyanate, and flavonoid have in common?

Answer: Besides being tricky to pronounce, these are all nutritional substances found in vegetables and fruit. Canada’s Food Guide to Healthy Eating recommends that we eat 5-10 servings of vegetables and fruit every day, and with good reason. These foods contain several key nutrients and other substances with numerous health benefits:

Vitamins: Vitamin C, beta-carotene, folic acid, etc.

Minerals: Potassium, iron, magnesium, calcium, zinc, copper, etc.

Other substances: Dietary fibre and health-promoting substances called “phytochemicals” (plant chemicals) that number in the thousands!

While we know that phytochemicals can help promote health and prevent diseases, we’re still learning about how they work. To date, research has focused on how phytochemicals change or prevent stages in cancer development and/or heart disease. For example, isothiocyanates and indoles in broccoli, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts may help produce anti-cancer enzymes. Lycopene, found mainly in tomato and tomato products, appears to remove damage causing substances that may lead to heart disease and some types of cancer.

Although you can now buy supplements that contain some of these compounds, you obtain more phytochemicals and receive greater health benefits by eating a wide variety of vegetables and fruits. If you’re wondering which vegetables and fruit contain the most phytochemicals and other key nutrients, the general rule is to eat vegetables and fruit that are the most colourful. Also, eating the skin of many fruits and vegetables will increase your intake of phytochemicals but wash them carefully under running water as a good food safety practice. While research is still ongoing about how phytochemicals work, you will surely benefit from eating more vegetables and fruit every day!

Sources with high nutritional content:

Red/purple

tomatoes, beets, eggplant, strawberries, raspberries, grapes

Dark Green

broccoli, spinach, green peppers, Brussels sprouts, kiwi fruit

Orange

sweet potato, winter squash, carrots, oranges, peaches, cantaloupe