So what are some examples of real, whole, unprocessed plant food?  It sounds like cardboard, but did you know all those yummy blueberries you’ve eaten throughout your life are packed with phytonutrients, including lignans, tannic acid, and anthocyanins?Don’t get lost in the names, simply put, nature designed our food to heal us.  New classes of phytonutrients are being discovered everyday, and scientists are still learning the power of these natural chemicals.  

There’s no label that will tell you how rich a food is in phytonutrients [how loaded or void it is of healing plant nutrients]. Remember to keep it simple.  As Mark Hyman, MD mentions in his book UltraMetabolism “...consider the total amount, or phytonutrient load, of your diet.  Just think of plants in the unadulterated state - fresh, whole, and unprocessed - vegetables, fruits, nuts, beans, seeds, whole grains, and think color and variety. Almost all refined oils, refined sugars, refined grains, potato products, hard liquors, and animal products - regrettably, the chief sources of calories in the typical Western diets - have no phytonutrients.”

Most children today are eating this S.A.D. Standard American Diet, with little to no phytonutrients. So on your next trip to the grocery store, aim to pick up more colorful plant food, like tomatoes, broccoli, and sweet potatoes. Eventually, your cart at check-out will be loaded with color and variety from the healing plants of our amazing planet.