Eat your vegetables!

Part of becoming an adult is realizing that the common refrain you heard as a child – Make sure to eat your vegetables! – was actually smart advice.

Eating plenty of fruits and vegetables really does help you grow up big and strong. And continuing to get your recommended daily servings of those leafy greens, brightly colored berries and other produce remains important to your optimal health no matter how old you are.

One of the reasons they are so important? Phytonutrients, or plant nutrients. They are the organic compounds found in fruits and vegetables, that are responsible for their vibrant colors.

When you consume them, phytonutrients act as antioxidants, and antioxidants help your body fight free radicals – the cell-damaging substances generated by internal systems in our bodies. Free radicals are caused by many of life’s everyday activities: poor diet, lack of sleep, sun and pollution, just to name a few.

What are free radicals?

If you could view your body’s cellular activity through a powerful microscope, you’d see the free radicals. These electrically-charged molecules can damage your cells.

“Traditionally, free radicals were thought to be attacked directly by antioxidants from plant nutrients in the diet,” said Nutrilite™ Principal Research Scientist Jina Hong, who has a Ph.D. in nutrition sciences. “While this is a valid approach, more recent scientific thinking indicates that phytonutrients work with your own defense mechanisms in helping your body to fight free radicals.”

Here’s how it works: Every cell in your body contains certain proteins that react to the presence of free radicals and indicate an out-of-balance condition. When triggered by the reaction, these proteins signal the cells to make more antioxidants that attack free radicals.

When the battle is over, balance is restored. If additional stressors produce more free radicals, the cells start this antioxidant process over again.

Phytonutrients work with your body to fight free radicals

Scientists now believe that certain phytonutrients also trigger these signaling proteins, spurring cells into an elevated state of readiness before the free radicals appear by creating more antioxidants, Hong said.

Nutrilite Double X™ Multivitamin helps fight free radicals with PhytoProtect™, a patented¹ combination of extracts from turmeric, rosemary and the Brazilian fava d’anta tree that work with other antioxidants to help provide protection from cell-damaging free radicals.†

“While the antioxidant-rich phytonutrients from each ingredient are beneficial individually, when combined in a specific ratio during an in-vitro lab test, the combination showed larger results,” Hong said. “That readiness better prepares you for the stress of daily life.”

Supplements can fill nutrient gaps

So, like we said, it’s important to eat your vegetables (and fruits) each day so your body gets the phytonutrients it needs to help fight free radicals. But in today’s world of chaotic schedules where people frequently turn to convenience foods, it can be difficult to get phytonutrients if you’re not eating the recommended 5-9 servings of fruit and vegetables each day.

That’s when you can consider supplementing with a plant-based multivitamin, such as Nutrilite Double X, to help fill nutrient gaps. Nutrilite Double X has 12 essential vitamins, 10 essential minerals and 22 plant concentrates, including a berry blend that focuses on nutrients commonly found in blue and purple plants, as research shows it is the least consumed among the five main color groups of fruits and vegetables.

¹ US Patent #9,517,249 

† This statement has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.  This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.