If you’re like many discerning grocery shoppers, you’re probably in the habit of picking through fresh fruits and vegetables for the most vibrant, flawless items. But in reality, when you pass over those with minor imperfections, you may be passing up healthful phytonutrients, too.
Why ‘imperfect’ may be healthier
It turns out, the scars and odd shapes you see in some fruits and vegetables at your favorite produce department can be a sign of healthful benefits.
“Many cosmetic defects in fruits and vegetables are the result of some kind of stress – exposure to insects, excess exposure to sunlight or poor soil,” says Keith Randolph, Ph.D., nutrition technology strategist at the Nutrilite Health Institute.
Some early research suggests that produce stressed by these factors may contain higher levels of beneficial compounds called phytonutrients that protect plants from these stresses. Interestingly, many of these same compounds may confer stress response protection when consumed by humans.
–Keith Randolph, Ph.D. Nutrition Technology Strategist Nutrilite Health Institute
Improving diets with imperfect foods
In part because of this research, an emerging consumer produce trend known as the “ugly fruit movement” is now sweeping across much of Europe and the US.
Cosmetically imperfect fruits and vegetables that are normally discarded because of their superficial blemishes and distorted shapes are now becoming increasingly available to consumers – at a lower cost than their cosmetically perfect counterparts. “That might result in increased fruit and vegetable consumption, a much-needed improvement in most diets, which lack recommended quantities of these healthful foods,” says Randolph.
Randolph is co-author of a study* commissioned by the Nutrilite Health Institute of Amway, which finds the majority of adults worldwide would have to at least double their current consumption of fruits and vegetables to meet the World Health Organization’s minimum recommendation of five servings per day.
“The trend could be a triple win: reduced food waste, increased income for farms, and increased consumption of healthy phytonutrient-rich fruits and vegetables,” he notes.
Why phytonutrients?
“The phytonutrients we get from plant-based foods can help our bodies perform optimally. Learn more about the health benefits of phytonutrients, and why they’re so important.
Do you need some help getting your daily dose of phytonutrients? Consider dietary supplements, like Nutrilite Double X and Nutrilite Concentrated Fruits and Vegetables.
Both contain plenty of phytonutrients to help you fill the gaps while you work toward increasing your fruit and vegetable intake – ugly or not!
