A profound explanation of why eating green (wild) edible plants promotes health and longevity

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

Abstract

From 1970, research evidence has accumulated that the Mediterranean diet promotes health and longevity. Its main components include local (wild) green vegetables, citrus fruits, and olive oil (extra virgin). Since the 1990s, experimental research on phytochemicals to explain why plant food is healthy and promotes longevity has grown exponentially. Nowadays, molecular biology provides deep explanations for many experimentally found health-promoting properties of plant species and their phytochemicals. The
specialized approach is OK because it is the way research progresses. Mainly, nutritional researchers concentrate on a particular group of compounds such as flavonoids, phenolic compounds, carboxylic acids, fatty acids, and so forth. Science outside theresearch on nutrition deals with the same chemical compounds but which nutritional researchers generally do not follow. Plant biologists have found that all photosynthesizing plants share many compounds and ions. They are vital to plants. Some of the compounds and ions are also vital to humans. Plant biologists make a distinction between minerals, primary metabolites, and secondary metabolites. This distinction applies partly to humans. Plant minerals and primary metabolites often are essential
to humans. Plant secondary metabolites are often not vital to humans but experimental research has shown that they promote health and longevity. Eating local wild edible plants (WEP) also promotes sustainability. WEPs are an ecosystem service. I have found 52 compounds and ions that all green edible plants share, promoting human health, well-being, and longevity, and I present the evidence in this paper.
Original languageEnglish
JournalFood Frontiers
Volume2
Issue number3
Pages (from-to)240-267
Number of pages28
ISSN2643-8429
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Sept 2021
MoE publication typeA1 Journal article-refereed

Fields of Science

  • 416 Food Science
  • green edible plants
  • wild edible plants (WEP)
  • health
  • sustainable diets
  • food-and-nutrition-security
  • The Mediterranean diet.

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