A Natural, Secret Health Chemical
What makes a healthy diet, healthy? Scientists have uncovered this secret, and it's to do with the natural chemicals that are found in the skin of small, thick-skinned fruits and vegetables.
They're called flavonols, and are a powerful antioxidant, and they help the body protect itself from cancer, heart disease, and the effects of ageing. Researchers think that this could be one of the reasons why people eating a Mediterranean diet are healthier and live longer.
Scientists from Glasgow University, Scotland, discovered that some varieties of fruits and vegetables have more of them than others.
Good examples of this are that, red onions are packed with them, white onions it's hard to find any. Cherry tomatoes have lots more, than larger tomatoes, and the red coloured Lollo Rosso lettuce contains 100 times more, than a normal green lettuce.
Commenting on this, Dr Alan Crozier, at the Institute of Biomedical and Life Sciences at Glasgow University,
"What our data shows is there is a surprisingly wide variation of flavonol levels in very similar products. A tomato is not just a tomato - there are different types. You can select a different variety and your flavonol content will increase dramatically."
From this research, it's easy to see that we can increase the amount of flavonols we eat, and thereby improve our health, simply by making small changes to our diet.
They're a good antioxidant, and have the ability to absorb free radicals in the body, which can otherwise attack cells and DNA, and unlike many other vitamins, or nutrients found in food, are not destroyed by cooking.
Dr Crozier adds, "You can fry the hell out of your tomatoes and still get 75% of your flavonols present,"
Ladies, here is really the best part of it all... Did you know one of the foods that have the highest levels is chocolate? That's right, and dark chocolate especially. It's because chocolate contains lots of cacao, and it's the cacao that's high in flavonols. You may find however, that milk chocolate has a much lower content; it's because they have a bitter taste and are often removed when the cacao is processed.
When it comes to the benefits of eating chocolate, research shows that it could help lower risks of strokes, and high blood pressure. In addition a study conducted by Dr Andrea Salonia, San Raffaele hospital, Milan, Italy, found that women who eat more chocolate even enjoy better sex!
There are many super foods that are also very high in flavonols, these include maca, wheatgrass powder, spirulina, and barley grass powder.
What makes a healthy diet, healthy? Scientists have uncovered this secret, and it's to do with the natural chemicals that are found in the skin of small, thick-skinned fruits and vegetables.
They're called flavonols, and are a powerful antioxidant, and they help the body protect itself from cancer, heart disease, and the effects of ageing. Researchers think that this could be one of the reasons why people eating a Mediterranean diet are healthier and live longer.
Scientists from Glasgow University, Scotland, discovered that some varieties of fruits and vegetables have more of them than others.
Good examples of this are that, red onions are packed with them, white onions it's hard to find any. Cherry tomatoes have lots more, than larger tomatoes, and the red coloured Lollo Rosso lettuce contains 100 times more, than a normal green lettuce.
Commenting on this, Dr Alan Crozier, at the Institute of Biomedical and Life Sciences at Glasgow University,
"What our data shows is there is a surprisingly wide variation of flavonol levels in very similar products. A tomato is not just a tomato - there are different types. You can select a different variety and your flavonol content will increase dramatically."
From this research, it's easy to see that we can increase the amount of flavonols we eat, and thereby improve our health, simply by making small changes to our diet.
They're a good antioxidant, and have the ability to absorb free radicals in the body, which can otherwise attack cells and DNA, and unlike many other vitamins, or nutrients found in food, are not destroyed by cooking.
Dr Crozier adds, "You can fry the hell out of your tomatoes and still get 75% of your flavonols present,"
Ladies, here is really the best part of it all... Did you know one of the foods that have the highest levels is chocolate? That's right, and dark chocolate especially. It's because chocolate contains lots of cacao, and it's the cacao that's high in flavonols. You may find however, that milk chocolate has a much lower content; it's because they have a bitter taste and are often removed when the cacao is processed.
When it comes to the benefits of eating chocolate, research shows that it could help lower risks of strokes, and high blood pressure. In addition a study conducted by Dr Andrea Salonia, San Raffaele hospital, Milan, Italy, found that women who eat more chocolate even enjoy better sex!
There are many super foods that are also very high in flavonols, these include maca, wheatgrass powder, spirulina, and barley grass powder.
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