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PLANTS ARE FULL OF PHYTOCHEMICALS
If you are not eating vegetable salads twice a day, you still do not have the message. Three new studies tell more about helpful chemicals from plants, or phytochemicals.
The second study, from North Carolina State University, shows that tomatoes contain a powerful insect repellent that forces mosquitos to go the other way. The product is more repulsive to insects than DEET, the standard repellent. It is patented under the name IBI-246 and should be available in a cream within a year. The third study shows that an extract from ginseng root prevents diabetes in mice by sensitizing cells to insulin. (2)
Plants have been on earth for three billion years. Most of the plants that has been here are now extinct. The only plants that have survived have chemicals that repel insects, bacteria, viruses, and fungi; they have antioxidants that help heal broken leaves and stems; and they have substances that prevent overgrowth of cells. Many of these substances that help the plants also help the animals, including humans, that eat them. There will always be entrepreneurs who will extract chemicals from plants and sell them to you. But we don't know all of the good chemicals in plants. The best strategy is to eat lots of edible plants and vary what you eat. Taking pills will not correct the harm you cause by eating a diet based on hamburgers, French fries, and apple pie.
1) Science News, week of July 22, 2002
2) Diabetes, June 2002
Checked 5/3/07