Healthy Eating

Key Terms and Definitions

• Synthesize nutrients: To absorb nutrients from the soil.

• Selective breeding: The making of deliberate crosses or mating of organisms in order that the offspring will have a desired characteristic derived from one of the parents.

• Synthetic fertilizers: Commercially prepared mixtures of nitrates, phosphates, and potassium applied to the soil to restore fertility and increase crop yields.

• Phytochemicals / Phytonutrients: Plant derived antioxidant active compounds that have health-protecting qualities.

• Conventionally grown produce is not as healthful as it was 30 years ago.

• In 2004 researchers analyzed 43 fruits and vegetables from 1950 to 1999, they found reductions in vitamins, minerals, and proteins.

• Using USDA data, researchers found that broccoli had 130 mg of calcium in 1950. Today, that number is only 48 mg.

• Selective breeding and synthetic fertilizers decrease the produce's ability to synthesize nutrients from the soil.

• When synthetic fertilizers are not used, plants experience stress. Plants in stress produce phytochemicals.

• Organic tomatoes can have as much as 30% more phytochemicals than conventional tomatoes.

1. Look for Strong Colors

• A richly colored skin indicates a higher count of healthy phytochemicals.

2. Pair Your Produce

• When eaten together, some produce contains compounds that can positively affect how we absorb their nutrients.

• The combination of tomato-based salsa and avocado increases the body's absorption of lycopene, a cancer-fighting nutrient.

3. Buy Smaller Items

• Vegetables have a set amount of nutrients passed on to them, so when the produce is smaller, then its level of nutrients are more concentrated.

4. Cook Smarter

• Certain vegetables release more nutrients when cooked. Broccoli and carrots are more nutritious when steamed than when raw or boiled.

• Tomatoes release more lycopene when they are lightly sautéed or roasted.

5. Eat Within a Week

• Nutrients in most fruits and vegetables start to diminish as soon as they're picked, so for optimal nutrition, eat all produce within 1 week of buying.

6. Skip Time-Savers

• When produce is sliced, peeled or shredded, and shipped to stores, the nutrients are significantly reduced.

7. Mix Them Up

• Different varieties contain different nutrient levels.

• When you differentiate your diet, you get more vitamins and minerals.

8. Opt for Old-Timers• Plants bred prior to World War II are hardier

because they were established before the use of modern fertilizers and pesticides.

• Brandywine tomatoes, Early Jersey Wakefield cabbage, Golden Bantam corn, or Jenny Lind melon.

9. Find a Farmers' Market

• Produce has been given the proper amount of time to ripen.

• Fully ripened produce has more absorbable phytonutrients and higer amounts of concentrated antioxidant compounds.

Goal Setting: Healthy Eating

• Plant a Class Garden