345: The Healthiest Produce: One Simple Trick!

Are you keeping your body from feeling good by choosing the "perfect" produce? What if those flawless fruits and veggies are missing vital nutrients they should contain?

In this mind-blowing episode of Power on Plants, Jarrod and Anita reveal a surprising secret for choosing the healthiest produce. Discover how a seemingly undesirable trait in certain vegetables (like kale, arugula, Brussels sprouts, and even leafy greens) can actually reveal a hidden layer of health benefits, boosting your immunity, fighting inflammation, and optimizing your well-being!

This episode will help you revolutionize your understanding of "clean eating" and empower you to fuel your body with the exact nutrients it craves for peak performance and productivity.

If you're exhausted by conflicting health advice, confused by food labels, and yearning to make the informed choices that nourish your body well from the inside out, this episode is for you. We're challenging conventional wisdom, debunking the common myths, and empowering you to shop smart, eat healthy, and tap into the untapped potential of whole food plant-based nutrition for an active, exciting, and energized life.

You don’t have to blindly follow the crowd when it comes to getting healthy. Tune in now to uncover the surprising truth about your vegetables and how to maximize their hidden power for living the purpose-filled life you were created to enjoy.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey sister, welcome to the Power on Plants podcast.
Are you tired of staring intothe fridge wondering what to eat
so you can just feel better?
Do you want to avoid spendinghours in the kitchen making
complicated meals in the name ofhealth?
Would you love to leave fatiguebehind and finally have the
energy to do all the things youwant to do?
Hi, we're Jared and AnitaRoussel Christ followers,

(00:23):
healthcare professionals,parents of four and big fans of
great tasting food.
We, too, tried exercising more,eating natural and clean foods,
but we still found ourselvesstruggling with what we thought
were changes that come with ageor bad genes, and we weren't
finding answers the traditionalroute.
So we dug into the research andcreated our secret nutritional

(00:44):
weapon sustainable plant-basedliving.
The truth is, you can eat morewhole plant foods and it's not
hard.
You just need the way.
That's realistic and delicious,so you never feel deprived.
If you're ready to enjoy yourmeals, no longer be held back by
your health struggles andactively live your life, then
you're in the right place.

(01:05):
So grab your favoriteplant-based cup of happy pop in
those earbuds and let's getstarted.
Hello, sunshine, we are so gladthat you're joining us for this
episode.
Jared and I often talk aboutthings that are a lot of fun
behind the scenes, and we justwant to pull back the curtain
today and bring you in.
This is what we love to do onthe podcast episode just to
share with you some of thethings we're mulling over.

(01:27):
And he said something aboutcruciferous because of our
episode that we just did onsulforaphane.
If you haven't heard that, goback and listen to the last
episode.
It is amazing.
It's packed full of incrediblejuicy nuggets that are going to
help you to move to the nextlevel of feeling your very best.
But he mentioned something tome off microphone that was so

(01:50):
interesting because it sparkedan idea of something I want to
share with you.
And what was it you weretelling me just a few minutes
ago.

Speaker 2 (01:56):
Well, it is interesting the insights that we
get when we're just back andforth.
We're not recording, it's justoh hey, this was interesting.
Sulforaphane actually has aprotective effect inside of the
cruciferous vegetables.

Speaker 1 (02:07):
Brussels sprouts, collard, greens, kale there are
so many.
Arugula is one of my favorites.

Speaker 2 (02:13):
Arugula, watercress, mustard greens, which makes
sense with mustard seed powder,even horseradish Horseradish
Forgot about that one, yeah, sothere are plenty of them out
there.
Well, in the human body.
We talked about sulforaphane onthe last episode and how that's
very helpful, and we talkedspecifically about how to
optimize the amount ofsulforaphane that you get from

(02:33):
these foods.
But in our bodies it hasantibacterial properties,
anti-tumor properties, thingsthat are healing.
But interestingly and I had thethought of well, why is it in
the plant in the first place?
Well, it turns out that in theplants it has an antibacterial
property, an antipest typeproperty.

(02:55):
So when the bugs start chewingon it, it breaks the cells, the
myrosinase, the enzyme isreleased that converts
glucoraphanin into sulforaphaneand that then helps to deter the
pest.
Isn't that interesting?
So it's interesting that it'sdifferent, yet kind of similar,
that it's getting rid ofsomething negative, but it's

(03:15):
very different for the plantthan it is for us, and I think
it just speaks so highly of howthe father has created
everything, doesn't it?

Speaker 1 (03:23):
though and here is the other mind-blowing thing
that I want you to think aboutwhen you go to the store and you
go to the farmer's market, Iwant you to picture yourself
strolling your produce stand.
You're walking around, you'relooking for the most beautiful,
untouched specimen of mustardgreens and watercress and
arugula.
You want those leaves pristine.

(03:44):
You don't want any bug-eatingholes on there.
You don't want anything likethat, so you're looking for the
prettiest thing that you canfind.
Now, in light of what Jared'sjust shared, I want you to ask
yourself is this the best thingthat you should be looking for?
Should you be looking for thecruciferous that have no holes

(04:05):
in them, or should you look forthe ones that have some holes?
First of all, that's going totell you that most likely, those
things weren't sprayed, right?
If you're picking up some kalethat has a few holes in the
leaves, it's probably not beensprayed.
Okay, so it may be more likelyto be organic or pesticide-free.
But the other thing is, ifthey've been nibbled, if they've

(04:28):
been chewed by a pest that hasalready started the process of
converting the sulforaphane, sonow you're going to have more
sulforaphane in that plant bynature, in other words, the one
that has the holes in it becauseit's been nibbled on by some
bugs is actually going to behealthier for you.

Speaker 2 (04:47):
You do not always want to pick the prettiest
produce Now.
You want some with holes, butyou don't want some with
residents.
You don't want any critters inthe produce, but one with a few
nibbles, and all that is totallyfine.
Don't shy away from those.

Speaker 1 (05:02):
And this makes you wonder is this the only molecule
that is increased in the plantwhen it gets nibbled, the only
one that's beneficial for us andhelps the plant fight the
invaders as well?

Speaker 2 (05:15):
This is not the only one.
There is another compound thatis well known to us all.
Aspirin in the form ofsalicylates is found in some
leafy greens.
When they get chewed on bylittle bugs and little pests, so
the plant releases thesalicylates to act as a
deterrent to scare away thepests.
So in that instance you don'tnecessarily want the prettiest

(05:37):
produce.
It's going to have thesalicylates naturally in it,
which help to fight inflammation, help to keep our blood nice
and flowing and have tons ofhealth benefits.

Speaker 1 (05:48):
And these are just two of the things we know right.

Speaker 2 (05:51):
Yes, and this further highlights the grand design.

Speaker 1 (05:54):
Yes.

Speaker 2 (05:55):
One function in a plant and another function for
us to optimize our health.
I just have trouble believingthat this could have just
evolved.
I mean, there are just too manycoincidences.
It's insane.

Speaker 1 (06:08):
Absolutely mind-blowing in an incredible
way.
So your takeaway today is don'talways feel like you need to
choose the prettiest produce.
Some with some holes where it'sbeen nibbled a little bit is
quite all right.
Like Jared said, you don't wantto pick up the produce that has
an active infestation becausethat's probably not healthy

(06:29):
produce, right.
But if it's been nibbled on alittle bit by bugs, it could
indicate that, number one, ithasn't been necessarily sprayed
or sprayed heavily and, numbertwo, it could already be higher
in the nutrients you actuallywant if optimal health is your
goal.
Friend, we have loved havingyou join us again for Power on
Plants.
Know that you are loved, youare prayed for and we will see

(06:50):
you again very soon.
Thank you.