Most of us eat food because it's what keeps us alive and we want the nutrition it provides. Those who care about how much their food nurtures them and keeps them strong will want to know scientific studies have revealed Nature's great gift to human nourishment, phytonutrients, has been given to us on a use it or lose it, fast food basis. Freshness is everything.
In her new book, Eating on the Wild Side, Jo Robinson explains that the thousands of phytonutrients in our fresh food--some of them are Vitamin C, Vitamin E and beta-carotene, not unimportant fillers--dissolve very fast once a plant is snapped from its roots, i.e. harvested. So there's virtually little to no nutrition left in the supermarket produce after it's traveled thousands of miles from the farm to the check out. And you do not get any benefit taking these nutrients extracted one by one into separate pills: it's their synergy in the plant that energizes you.
As it happens, the foods we most count on for the phytonutrients that bolster our immune system and fight our aging process are the very ones most likely to have died in transit. They're best eaten as soon as picked, which means grab them at your local farmers' market and go. I'm talking about asparagus, spinach, broccoli, kale and leaf lettuces. Also oregano, thyme, basil and parsley, especially parsley. Today is everything; tomorrow is too late. Go make green sauce right now. A recipe is on the parsley page of How to Fix a Leek...
Additionally, Robinson assures us we don't have to forage in the wild to find foods full of these lifesavers. Familiar foods will do, if we so to speak nip them in the bud. Scallions are as nutrient dense as wild onions and cherry tomatoes remain close to their Andean ancestor in packing a phytonutrient punch.
In sum, the most nutritious element of vegetables and fruits could easily be DOA. Many farmers' market growers might not know, she says, they have this advantage and use it as a marketing device.Well, now you know.
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