From the pages of Her Sports + Fitness magazine

Look—in your salad. It’s an antioxidant! A phytochemical! An omega-3! Disguised as mild-mannered fruits and vegetables, these harbingers of good health battle heart disease, wage war against cell-damaging free radicals, and rid your body of cancer-causing agents—not to mention, help make you regular.

But what exactly are these nutritional superstars? Why are they so good for you, and how do they work? Here’s the scoop on five powerful performers.

Antioxidants
What They Are: Remember when that sliced apple turned brown before you had a chance to eat it? By cutting the fruit you exposed it to air, allowing oxygen to react with chemicals under the skin and cause discoloration. But sprinkling the apple pieces with a little orange juice prevents oxidation. Vitamin C or ascorbic acid is one of many antioxidants—compounds that combat oxidation and prevent damage to cells.

How they work: Antioxidants protect molecules by reacting with free radicals before they have a chance to strike.

Where To Find Them: Fruits, nuts, vegetables and whole grains are loaded with antioxidant vitamins C, E and beta- carotene, the mineral selenium and antioxidant phytochemicals such as lutein, lycopene, polyphenols and indoles. Coffee, tea, berries, pomegranates, broccoli and wheat germ are just a few good choices. Rely on food for your antioxidants, not supplements.

Phytochemicals
What They Are: They may sound like they’re bad for you, with names like isothiocyanate, carnosol and ellagic acid. Yet these are just some of the thousands of naturally occurring disease-fighting chemicals in the plants we eat.

How They Work: Researchers have identified several ways phytochemicals guard us from cancer, says Karen Collins, nutrition advisor to the American Institute for Cancer Research (http://www.aicr.org). Some phytochemicals are antioxidants. Others stimulate enzymes that detoxify cancer-causing agents before they have a chance to damage cells. According to Collins, certain phytochemicals aid enzymes that block the activation of carcinogens. Others impede the ability of cancer cells to spread, and some even cause them to self-destruct

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Where To Find Them: Eat a rainbow of fruits, vegetables and other plants.

Essential Amino Acids
What They Are: Amino acids are the building blocks of protein. There are 20 amino acids important in human nutrition. The essential amino acids (EAA) are the nine the body can’t produce on its own, so you need to get them from your diet.

How They Work: If you were missing any of the EAA, your body wouldn’t be able to synthesize necessary amounts of protein. This would affect every aspect of your health, as proteins are required not just for building muscle but also for fighting infection, clotting blood, transporting nutrients, maintaining fluid balance and a host of other vital functions.

Where To Find Them: Fortunately, it’s easy to meet your EAA needs. They’re in a wide range of foods, including vegetables, grains, dairy, legumes, meats and fish.

Dietary Fiber
What It Is: Fiber is the carbohydrate in plants that our bodies can’t digest. Without fiber there would be no crunch in your raw vegetables, no bulk in your salad. Dietary fiber is divided into soluble, which dissolves in water, and insoluble, which doesn’t.

How It Works: Perhaps the most commonly known benefit of a high-fiber diet is preventing constipation. Insoluble fiber increases the weight of stool, which normalizes the frequency of bowel movements and the time it takes to move through the intestines. But fiber does more than make you regular. It also helps decrease your chances of getting heart disease by lowering your blood cholesterol levels. “It’s been estimated that for every gram of soluble fiber you eat (per day), you’ll reduce heart-disease risk by 2.4 percent,” says Katherine Tallmadge, spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association (http://www.eatright.org) and author of Diet Simple: 192 Mental Tricks, Substitutions, Habits & Inspirations (LifeLine Press, 2004) (http://www.dietsimple.info).

Where To Find It: Different plant-based foods have varying amounts of soluble and insoluble fiber. So eat a variety of fruits, vegetables and whole grains to get a good mix of both types.

Omega-3 Fatty Acids
What They Are: Omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids are subclasses of polyunsaturated fats. Both are important in immune function, inflammation, blood clotting, blood pressure and a plethora of other vital chemical reactions.

How They Work: Research suggests that omega-3s also have a role in infant brain development, cognition in the elderly and the prevention and treatment of bowel disorders, heart disease, depression, asthma and more. Of the three omega-3 fatty acids, only ALA is considered essential because the body cannot produce it. EPA and DHA are also critical to your health in quantities greater than your body can make. Thus, you need dietary sources of all three.

Where To Find Them: You probably get more than enough omega-6s already, so focus on upping your intake of 3s. Snack on walnuts, and cook with soy products, soybean oil, canola oil and ground flaxseed to meet your ALA needs.

Colors of Health
Here are just a few of the thousands of health-boosting phytochemicals in color-rich fruits and vegetables

Jill Weisenberger, M.S., R.D., C.D.E, is a registered dietitian and certified diabetes educator for Hampton Roads Center for Clinical Research in Norfolk, Va.

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