British researchers have recently published their findings: moderate drinking, exercise, quitting smoking, and eating five servings of fruits and vegetables daily can extend lifespan. Compared to those who do not follow these recommendations, people who live by these guidelines can live an average of 14 years longer.
Why is eating five servings of fruits and vegetables a secret to health and longevity? Experts believe it's because the "colored substances" in fruits and vegetables can enter human cells and powerfully combat toxic compounds that severely damage human genes—oxygen free radicals. Oxygen free radicals cause cell damage and cancer
Oxygen is an essential element for life, and 20% of the air is oxygen. But how are our genes damaged by it? The answer is also oxygen. "The most powerful scientific evidence today lists oxygen free radicals as the main stimulus for causing heart disease, cancer, dementia, and premature aging," explained Dr. David Heber, director of the UCLA Center for Human Nutrition. "Every time humans and animals breathe, the lungs inhale oxygen, which then mixes with the fluid on the surface of the lungs. An oxygen molecule consists of two oxygen atoms. Influenced by heat and light, the two oxygen atoms split, creating oxygen free radicals that contain only a single oxygen atom. Each oxygen free radical carries an unpaired electron, which is like a spark in a gas tank, causing tiny atomic explosions that damage other parts of the cell, including fats, proteins, and genes."
Experiments have shown that as long as the lung fluid contains sufficient antioxidants to absorb these tiny explosions, human tissue cells will not be damaged. If exposed to smoke or other toxic substances, these defensive substances in the body are depleted, and lung tissue cells are damaged.
Minor gene damage can be repaired and does not cause significant harm to cells. However, excessive cell damage leads to cell death, and the immune system usually clears these dead cells. But when excessively damaged cells are not killed or dead cells are not cleared in time, and the damage occurs in sensitive and critical parts of the gene, cancer can develop. Fruits and vegetables prevent gene damage
Oxygen damages our genes and increases the risk of cancer. In fact, to cope with the threat of oxygen, plants in nature have formed a spectrum of colors, such as red strawberries, green bok choy, and orange carrots. All these colored substances are used to protect plants from the harm of atmospheric oxygen.
Why do plants have color? Because the chemical structures of these colored substances can absorb visible light. This light-absorbing chemical property neutralizes the active electrons that damage genes. "When you cut an apple, the white flesh turns brown after being exposed to the air for a minute or two," said Dr. Chai Weizhong, an associate professor at the Peking University Health Science Center. "That's because the cut apple loses the protective effect of its red skin and is damaged by oxygen. When people consume the red skin of an apple, they also ingest the same colored substances, which play a protective role inside the human body, preventing gene damage." You need more than seven servings of vegetables and fruits a day
"Ancient people had to eat several pounds of low-fat, high-fiber fruits and vegetables to get the precious energy needed for survival, while modern people have to take in excessive energy. A handful of refined snack foods, like peanuts, fried potato chips, or cookies, contains more energy than two cups of vegetables," explained David Heber. "When the body's energy intake exceeds its expenditure, the excess energy sends a signal to cells to replicate faster. The body then produces more cells, increases a person's weight, and consumes the protective substances of cells, causing cell damage. The cumulative cell damage over time is a key risk factor for heart disease, diabetes, and common cancers. Fat cells release substances that trigger inflammation, which is a risk factor for atherosclerosis and common cancers. Obesity also promotes the damaging effect of oxygen on the body's genes.
However, the color "coding" in commonly eaten vegetables and fruits can optimize the body's protection of cells and their genes. Although vegetables and fruits vary in type and characteristics, they all contain beneficial substances that protect and regulate gene metabolism, providing our bodies with special protection and thus becoming our "garden pharmacy." Certain types of vegetables and fruits have special beneficial effects on certain tissues and organs. For example, lycopene in tomatoes and their products concentrates in the male prostate, preventing prostate enlargement or cancer. Lutein and zeaxanthin in spinach, corn, and other yellow-green leafy vegetables accumulate in the retina and lens of the eye, reducing the risk of cataracts and macular degeneration.
"I don't think eating five servings of fruits and vegetables a day can ensure that you fully ingest various substances that protect the gene metabolism of different organs," said Chai Weizhong. "You should eat seven or more servings of fruits and vegetables of different colors a day." What is a serving? Chai Weizhong said, it's one cup of raw vegetables or fruits, or half a cup of steamed or cooked vegetables or fruits. Make ideal foods the main part of your diet
For health, in addition to getting sufficient beneficial plant compounds from fruits and vegetables, people can also avoid obesity, excessive nutrition, and even disease by choosing ideal foods to form the main part of their diet.
Regarding protein foods, the ideal choices are soybeans, white chicken, egg whites, and ocean-caught fish and shrimp; the less ideal choices are high-fat red meat from pigs, cattle, and sheep, whole eggs, and farmed fish and shrimp. For carbohydrates, the ideal choices are fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and puffed corn; the less ideal choices are sugar, white bread, cakes, pastries, and snack crackers. In fats, the ideal choices are olive oil and avocado oil; the less ideal choices are hydrogenated soybean oil, corn oil, cottonseed oil, animal butter, margarine, and mayonnaise. Of course, people won't be poisoned by eating these less ideal foods, but if they pile them up, they form a so-called "junk diet." Frequently consuming large amounts of these "junk foods" every day will eventually lead to health problems.