You Become What You Eat:
Phytochemicals: Guarding the Gates

Most foods contain mixtures of hundreds or thousands of separate chemical compounds. Some compounds—nutrients like carbohydrates, fats, and proteins—are required by the body. Others provide odor and flavor. Additional substances may provide health benefits beyond nutritional requirements. These substances are called "phytocompounds." Phytocompounds occur naturally in foods, and to date more than 100,000 of them have been isolated and identified. Originally classified as vitamins, many phytocompounds are now classified by their molecular structure and by their protective functions in the body.

In the body, phytocompounds undergo chemical changes that promote good health. Researchers studying the causes and cures for major diseases, like heart disease and cancer, have begun to identify important phytocompounds that, if consumed as part of a person's diet, may help to prevent disease.

Among the more important classification of phytocompounds are:

• Terpenes: carotenes, limonoids, and saponins
• Organosulfur compounds: indoles, glucosinolates, thiosulfonates, and isothiocyanates
• Phenols: polyphenols and isoflavones
• Organic acid-polysaccharides: gallic acid