PLANTS FOR OUR HEALTH
As most of you know, vegetables, fruits, nuts, herbs are all healthy foods and we should eat them in sufficient amounts every day to provide our bodies with chemicals that we don't find in other foods. In fact, plants were probably the primary food of our human ancestors, before the "discovery" of animal meat and its concentrated proteins and fat that could provide energy for longer periods of time. Nevertheless, plants still are able to give us every nutrient we need in our food diet and animals cannot. It's not a matter of being a vegetarian or not though, as we have learned to create dishes where the meat plays an exciting role, however the plants have been set aside and neglected for some reason. The fact still stays though - we need plants for a healthy life.
What do the plants have that we benefit from? First of all, the vitamins. Red-colored vegetables and fruits in general contain a lot of vitamin A or its precursor, and vitamin A is necessary to sustain our night vision and a factor in development of certain kinds of cells. Vitamin C, found in many citrus fruits and acidic-tasting veggies, is necessary for activity of certain enzymes, especially the ones that are involved in biosynthesis of collagen that makes up most part of our bodies. Vitamin E is another plant vitamin, and is used in other forms of metabolism. Vitamins B and D can be provided from animal meat and sunlight, respectively. To conclude, let us also mention that the plant-abundant vitamins are categorized as anti-oxidants, which are good for prevention of cancer or atherosclerosis development (just to mention some benefits). Plants also contain lots of phytochemicals that also function as anti-oxidants.
Vegetables, fruits, and nuts are also high sources of fibers - the big carbohydrate molecules that make our digestive system feel well and work efficiently. Fibers cannot be digested by our bodies, but they are able to partially protect against absorption of toxins, bacterial attacks, and they speed up the passage of food through our intestines. The important thing to have in mind when eating plants is to not cut away the parts that actually contain the fibers. These parts are often the ones that are tougher and not juicy, in general the skins of the vegetables and the white spongy parts and membranes of the citrus fruits. In some vegetables, fibers are more evenly distributed though, but as a general rule - eat as much of the plant as you can without unnecessary trimmings (as long as the flavor doesn't suffer, or why not sacrifice it a little from time to time?).
How do we know which plants are the most healthy to eat? Another general rule to remember is the color rule. The more color on the plant, the more nutrients it contains. You may have actually noticed that the most colored plants, or even parts of plants, are usually the more flavorful ones as well. In short, the color gives health AND flavor. Not only green vegetables, but also red or orange fruits, red tomatoes, red onions, yellow onions, and other colorful plants provide lots of high quality nutrition. Eat these and they will make you feel better and reduce the risk of getting deadly diseases.