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| process continues, the accumulation of damaged molecules wreaks havoc on your body, leading to permanent damage and disease. Free radical damage can cause everything from hardening of the arteriessetting the stage for heart diseaseto cancer to premature aging. |
| Phytonutrients create a protective barrier between your body's cells and free radicals. They provide electrons to the free radicals, thus stabilizing them and preventing further damage. |
| SMART MOVE |
| "We now see a renewed awareness and interest in returning to nature to address the two leading causes of death that plague our society: cancer and cardiovascular disease," says Leslie Jacobs, an internist in Las Vegas, Nevada. "It has not, of course, reached a point that we would give up our pharmaceutical arsenal and write prescriptions to our patient's grocer, nor would we have our patients take a clove of garlic, two chili peppers, and call us in the morning. However, we do sense a willingness among many professionals in the medical community to address health issues from a preventive stance through proper diet, nutritional supplementation, exercise, and elimination of bad habits." |
| Hormone Regulation |
| Phytonutrients also help maintain healthful levels of various hormones, which in turn help keep disease at bay. |
| One example, and one that has garnered a great deal of attention, is phytonutrients' effect on estrogen levels. Evidence has shown that women are at higher risk of breast cancer when they have high estrogen levels. Researchers believe that a diet high in certain phytonutrients called isoflavones may help reduce breast cancer risk; these substances, which are very similar to natural estrogen, appear to supplant excess estrogen in the body, thus restoring estrogen levels to the safe zone. |
| Toxin Elimination |
| Another way in which phytonutrients protect is by helping to detoxify carcinogenscancer-causing chemicalsand flush them out of the body. The phytonutrients attack "bad" enzymes that help activate toxins, while increasing production of "good" enzymes that find and detoxify the carcinogens. |
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