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Phytonutrients
Over the last ten
years or so there has been a lot of research into the nutrients
present in plants. This area of nutrition is revealing more and more
about antioxidants in vegetables, fruit and herbs, and the roles these
can play in keeping us healthy.
Antioxidants fight
oxidation in the body. Oxidation causes damage to our cells, in the
same way as oxygen and the elements cause our iron gate to rust. When
we paint the ironware with a special protective paint, it prevents
rusting, and when we take antioxidant supplements, we protect our body
from ageing and damage.
Grape Seed Extract
Grape seeds contain
compounds called procyanidolic oligomers, known as PCOs or pycnogenol,
long thought to be some of the most powerful phyto-antioxidants. As
antioxidants, they are around 50 times stronger than vitamin E. PCOs
are among the few antioxidants that cross the blood brain barrier, and
they are very easily absorbed. Not only do PCOs neutralise free
radicals, they also act synergistically with vitamins C and E.
Broccoli Sprout
Extract
Research at the John
Hopkins School of Medicine, in the USA, discovered that sulphoraphanes,
substances found in high concentrations in broccoli, help maintain the
body free from cancer. As the broccoli plant grows older sulphoraphane
levels drop. Researchers found that 3-day-old broccoli sprouts contain
20 to 50 times more sulphoraphanes than the mature cooked vegetable.
Sulphoraphanes act as indirect antioxidants. They boost what
are called Phase 2 detoxification enzymes, which trigger
broad-spectrum antioxidant activity. The effect of indirect
antioxidants is longer lasting than direct antioxidants.
Green Tea Extract
The active phyto-nutrients
in green tea are polyphenols called catechins. These are a form of
bioflavonoid that have potent free radical-fighting properties and
protects lipids against oxidation (going rancid). Catechins have been
shown to have 20 times the antioxidant potential of Vitamin E. A
particular type of catechin, found in green tea, epigallocatechin
gallate, may also help the body make its own antioxidant enzymes.
Oregano Extract
A very powerful
antioxidant phenol in many herbs is called rosmarinic acid.
Researchers at the US Department of Agriculture found that the herb
with the highest antioxidant activity, 3-20 times more than other
herbs, is oregano. Oregano has 42 times more antioxidant activity than
apples, 12 times more than oranges and 4 times more than blueberries.
Curcuminoids
Curcuminoids, which
are among the most well researched phytonutrients, are found in the
bright yellow spice, turmeric. Research to date indicates that
curcuminoids have a powerful antioxidant action, but also offer the
body support in its anti-inflammatory function, as well as lending
circulatory and immune support. The anti-oxidant activity of
curcuminoids is approximately 3 times more powerful than PCOs.
Bilberry Extract
The dark blue/purple
pigments of the bilberry contain flavonoids that have been show to
improve microcirculation and act as very effective antioxidants.
Bilberry is most well known for its benefits on eye health.
Watercress
Watercress contains a
family of phyto-nutrients called 'isothiocyanates' which are known to
fight off harmful free radicals. Watercress is packed with minerals
and antioxidant Vitamins A and C, as well as chlorophyll, the pigment
that gives Watercress its dark green colour.
Garlic
Garlic contains a
phytonutrient antioxidant called 'alliciin', which is known to
scavenge free radicals in the body, and to help protect fats from
oxidation, such as LDL cholesterol. In this way, Garlic is a highly
prized food herb and important for health.
Lutein
Lutein is the primary
carotenoid for the eyes. It is a light filter as well as an
antioxidant and may help maintain the skin free of skin cancer when
exposed to UV light. Lutein is thought to protect the optic nerve and
the macula of the eye. It is derived from the yellow, green and orange
pigments in fruits, vegetables and egg yolks.
Alpha Lipoic Acid
Alpha Lipoic Acid is a
highly effective, vitamin-like antioxidant that contains the mineral
sulphur. Being both fat and water soluble, it can be used all through
the body. Alpha lipoic acid helps protect DNA from free radical damage
and recycles other antioxidants, especially vitamins A and C, making
them more useful at countering harmful free radicals.
Lycopene
This is the carotenoid
that makes tomatoes red. Many studies, including one at Harvard, have
focused on its antioxidant activity. Lycopene also supports the immune
system in helping to maintain the body free from various types of
cancer, especially of the bowel and prostate.
Astaxanthin
This highly versatile
red-pink pigment from the tiny marine algae Haematococcus pluvialis
has up to 550 times more antioxidant capacity than Vitamin E. It
helps the body make better use of other antioxidant carotenoids,
crosses the barrier between the brain and retina in the eye to protect
eyes from damaging UV light, protects skin against UV light, prevents
the 'bad' cholesterol from oxidation and maintains muscle function
during exercise.
Olive Leaf Extract
Olive leaves contain 'oleuropein',
a phytonutrient flavonoid with potent antioxidant activity. For
example, oleuropein has been shown to help protect LDL cholesterol
from oxidation by scavenging free radicals, thereby helping support a
healthy heart.
Beetroot
Beetroot contains
anthocyanidins, pigments that give the sweet, earthy-tasting vegetable
its deep indigo colour. Anthocyanidins have potent antioxidant
properties and are known to inhibit oxidation of lipids in the body.
Beetroot also provides antioxidant Vitamins A and C.
Carrot
Carrots get their
bright carrot colour from carotenoids, pigment antioxidants that are
powerful quenchers of damaging free radicals. The most well known
carotenoid in carrots is the antioxidant beta-carotene, which converts
in the body to Vitamin A. Carrots also contain the antioxidant Vitamin
E.
This information is not intended to
replace the advice of a qualified Healthcare Professional.
Higher
Nature
Higher
Nature have introduced Food FormTM vitamins and minerals to the UK and Europe.
Their 'True Food CTM' was the first nutrition supplement product in the UK and
Europe to provide a concentrated source of vitamin C truly bonded to proteins,
carbohydrates and lipids in exactly the same was as in an orange.
Higher
Nature state that 'by pre-digesting the Ultra Food FormTM range of nutrients,
they ensure that people with food sensitivities or allergies will not react to
these supplements. Why? Because food allergies are triggered by long chain
proteins and polysaccharides in foods.
In
Higher Nature Ultra Food FormTM nutrition supplements these big molecules have
been pre-digested and broken down by natural enzymes, making absorption easy,
and sensitivity reactions very unlikely.
Herbs
For thousands of years, herbs have been used to help maintain many aspects of
health and wellness. Today, research and technology are bringing herbalism into
the modern age – with improved extraction, standardization, and farming
methods. Clinical studies are beginning to validate herbal therapies, so even
some in the medical community are starting to accept them.
Many of today’s
medicines were originally derived from botanicals. Aspirin once came from the
white willow tree, quinine from the bark of the cinchona tree, and digitalis
from foxglove. Herbs are still the basis for Chinese medicine and are important
constituents of many European natural remedies. As Hippocrates said, “Let they
food by thy medicine, thy medicine be thy food”.
Some of the herbs
available on this site are wild-crafted – grown in the wild – while others
are meticulously cultivated on herb farms.
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Higher
Nature SuperPhyte
