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University of KentuckyCollege of Agriculture,Food and EnvironmentCooperative Extension ServiceFCS3-598

Body Balance: Protect Your Body from Pollution with a Healthy Lifestyle

Make Your Plate a Rainbow

Every day we choose foods to eat that we enjoy. Did you

know that your food choices can impact your health? Choos-ing healthy foods such as fruits, vegetables, legumes, and whole grains may help prevent cer-tain diseases. Eating a variety of colorful plant foods has the potential to protect or improve health. Research has shown that the vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients found in plant foods may protect the body from the negative effects of pol-lution. The benefits may include lower blood pressure, decreased cell damage, and reduced risk of type II diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.

What Is a Phytonutrient?

A phytonutrient comes from plant-based foods. Think of a phytonutrient like a vitamin or mineral in that it can benefit health. Research shows they are good, but scientists have not determined them to be essential

like vitamins or minerals, or de-termined how much needs to be consumed each day. In the fu-ture, there may be recommend-ed levels of phytonutrients to consume, just like vitamins and minerals today. There are thou-sands of phytonutrients. They naturally occur in fruits, veg-

etables, legumes, whole grains, and other plant foods. Like vitamins and minerals, there are diverse types of phytonu-trients, and they have various positive health effects. Certain foods are higher in some types of phytonutrients than others, just like how vitamin C is high

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in oranges, and milk is high in calcium. Therefore, consuming a variety of plant foods means you will eat a variety of phyto-nutrients.

Phytonutrients Protect the Body from Pollution

Consuming foods high in phytonutrients may help ne-gate the harmful health effects of pollution. Pollution is the presence of contaminants in the environment, including the air, water, soil, and even food. Pollution tends to have nega-tive effects on the environment and health. When people are exposed to pollution, chemicals build up in the body and dam-age cells, which increases the risk for cancer and other dis-eases. Consuming a diet high in phytonutrients may reduce the negative effects of pollution.

SummaryPhytonutrients can have many

benefits—they are heart healthy and may help prevent or slow the development of chronic dis-eases. Phytonutrients also help decrease the negative effects of pollution, which we can’t always

avoid. The University of Ken-tucky is a participant in the Su-perfund Research Center (SRC), which conducts ongoing re-search on the effects of pollut-ants and hazardous chemicals on the environment and on the body. For more information, see Inter-Program (IP) publications 76 and 77. Good nutrition is one of our best defenses for staying healthy, even in the presence of environmental pollutants. Make your plate a rainbow to make sure you get plenty of phytonu-trients in your diet.

ReferencesClarkson, P.M., and H.S.

Thompson. Antioxidants: What role do they play in physical activity and health? The American Journal of Clinical Nu-trition 72(2):637s-646s. http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/72/2/637s.full.

Hennig, B., A.S. Ettinger, R.J. Jandacek, S. Koo, C. Mc-clain, H. Seifried, et al. Using Nutrition for Inter-vention and Prevention against Environmental Chemical Toxicity and As-sociated Diseases. Environ-mental Health Perspectives 115(4):493-495.

Higdon, J. 2015. Carotenoids. http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/mic/dietary-factors/phyto-chemicals/carotenoids.

Webb, D. 2013. Phytochemicals' Role in Good Health. http://www.todaysdietitian.com/newarchives/090313p70.shtml.

This publication is made pos-sible in part by grant number P42 ES007380 from the Na-tional Institute of Environmen-tal Health Sciences, NIH. Its contents are solely the responsi-bility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of NIEHS, NIH.

AuthorsDawn Brewer, PhD, RD;

Hannah Bellamy, RD; Lisa Gaetke, PhD, RD; University of Kentucky Superfund Research Center Community Engage-ment Core

Educational programs of Kentucky Cooperative Extension serve all people regardless of economic or social status and will not discriminate on the basis of race, color, ethnic origin, national origin, creed, religion, political belief, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, marital status, genetic information, age, veteran status, or physical or mental disability. Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work, Acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Nancy M. Cox, Director of Cooperative Extension Programs, University of Kentucky College of Agricul-ture, Food and Environment, Lexington, and Kentucky State University, Frankfort. Copyright © 2017 for materials developed by University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension. This publication may be reproduced in portions or its entirety for educational or nonprofit purposes only. Permitted users shall give credit to the author(s) and include this copyright notice. Publications are also available on the World Wide Web at www.ca.uky.edu.

12-2017 Images © 2017 Thinkstock Photos.com

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Help to lower cholesterol and maintain a healthy heart. Reduce the risk of developing certain cancers. Reduce risk of asthma.Maintain immune health by decreasing inflam-mation.

WhiteContains flavanones, flavonols and poly-phenols.

Red Contains anthocyani-dins, carotenoids*, fla-vanones, flavan-3-ols, flavones, flavonols and polyphenols.

Promote healthy aging and memory function. Reduce the risk of heart disease and keeps your heart strong.Reduce the risk of developing certain cancer.Protect against urinary tract infections.

Yellow/OrangeContains carot-enoids*, flavanones and flavonols.

Improve vision, including night vision. Help to lower the "bad" (LDL) cholesterol. Protect skin and mucus membranes.Maintain immune health by decreasing in-flammation.

Blue/PurpleContains anthocy-anidins, flavan-3-ols, flavonols, polyphenols and proanthocyani-dins.

Help control blood sugar levels.Reduce the risk of certain cancers.Improve urinary tract health.Promote healthy aging and memory func-tion.Reduce the risk of asthma.

Dark Green Contains carot-enoids*, flavanones, flavones and flavo-nols.

Improve immune function and decrease in-flammation.Reduce the risk of high blood pressure. Protect eyes from macular degeneration.Decrease your "bad" cholesterol (LDL). Promote strong bones and teeth.Help prevent birth defects.

Light GreenContains carot-enoids*, flavanones, flavones and flavo-nols.

Green cruiciferous vegetables, such as broc-coli, Brussel sprouts, cabbage, kale and collard greens, also contain sulforaphane, isothiocyanate, and indoles that may protect against the development of certain types of cancer.

Examples of Phytonutrients By Food Group Color

Consumption of Phytonutrient May:

Where are the phytonutrients in your diet?