Fascinating health fact of the day: Why You Should Eat Vegetables

We all know we should be eating our veggies, every day, with every meal, right? Well, if you didn't know that - now you do. But, here's a little peak into the science of it.

We will take broccoli, for instance. Broccoli has compounds called isiothiocyanates. The liver has specific genes which detoxify (get rid of) cancer-causing chemicals and other toxins. BUT - and here is where it gets really cool - these genes in our liver stay DORMANT, or inactive, until we enter isiothiocyanates into the equation. Those genes in our liver, which could do a whole heck of a lot of good, won't do anything for us unless we give our liver what it needs to turn on these genes. Broccoli "turns them on".

Another example is cooked tomatoes. This one is probably a bit more familiar to you due to advertising. Cooked tomatoes have a compound called lycopene. Lycopenes switch OFF genes in the prostate that increase risk of cancer. So, if men eat more cooked tomatoes, this gene gets turned on and their risk for prostate cancer decreases. Lycopene has also been shown to protect against cervical cancer.

Moral of the story: eat your vegetables. Your health depends on it.