June 9, 2025

345: Healthiest Produce: One Simple Trick!

Send us a text 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...

Send us a text

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.

💃🏻 Ready to learn how to actually enjoy eating whole plant foods so you can finally feel great and fully experience life ? Inside Accelerator, we'll take you by the hand & walk you step-by-step through our proven 5-Step WFPB Framework so you can heal naturally & actively live your God-given dreams. Join the Waitlist Here... the Doors are Opening Soon!

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00:00 - Welcome to Power on Plants

01:27 - Cruciferous Plants' Self-Defense Mechanisms

03:34 - Why Choose "Imperfect" Produce

05:15 - Salicylates: Another Plant Defense Benefit

06:44 - Key Takeaways on Produce Selection

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Hey sister, welcome to the Power on Plants podcast.

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Are you tired of staring into the fridge wondering what to eat so you can just feel better?

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Do you want to avoid spending hours in the kitchen making complicated meals in the name of health?

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Would you love to leave fatigue behind and finally have the energy to do all the things you want to do?

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Hi, we're Jared and Anita Roussel Christ followers, healthcare professionals, parents of four and big fans of great tasting food.

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We, too, tried exercising more, eating natural and clean foods, but we still found ourselves struggling with what we thought were changes that come with age or bad genes, and we weren't finding answers the traditional route.

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So we dug into the research and created our secret nutritional weapon sustainable plant-based living.

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The truth is, you can eat more whole plant foods and it's not hard.

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You just need the way.

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That's realistic and delicious, so you never feel deprived.

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If you're ready to enjoy your meals, no longer be held back by your health struggles and actively live your life, then you're in the right place.

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So grab your favorite plant-based cup of happy pop in those earbuds and let's get started.

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Hello, sunshine, we are so glad that you're joining us for this episode.

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Jared and I often talk about things that are a lot of fun behind the scenes, and we just want to pull back the curtain today and bring you in.

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This is what we love to do on the podcast episode just to share with you some of the things we're mulling over.

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And he said something about cruciferous because of our episode that we just did on sulforaphane.

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If you haven't heard that, go back and listen to the last episode.

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It is amazing.

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It's packed full of incredible juicy nuggets that are going to help you to move to the next level of feeling your very best.

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But he mentioned something to me off microphone that was so interesting because it sparked an idea of something I want to share with you.

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And what was it you were telling me just a few minutes ago.

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Well, it is interesting the insights that we get when we're just back and forth.

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We're not recording, it's just oh hey, this was interesting.

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Sulforaphane actually has a protective effect inside of the cruciferous vegetables.

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Brussels sprouts, collard, greens, kale there are so many.

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Arugula is one of my favorites.

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Arugula, watercress, mustard greens, which makes sense with mustard seed powder, even horseradish Horseradish Forgot about that one, yeah, so there are plenty of them out there.

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Well, in the human body.

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We talked about sulforaphane on the last episode and how that's very helpful, and we talked specifically about how to optimize the amount of sulforaphane that you get from these foods.

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But in our bodies it has antibacterial properties, anti-tumor properties, things that are healing.

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But interestingly and I had the thought of well, why is it in the plant in the first place?

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Well, it turns out that in the plants it has an antibacterial property, an antipest type property.

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So when the bugs start chewing on it, it breaks the cells, the myrosinase, the enzyme is released that converts glucoraphanin into sulforaphane and that then helps to deter the pest.

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Isn't that interesting?

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So it's interesting that it's different, yet kind of similar, that it's getting rid of something negative, but it's very different for the plant than it is for us, and I think it just speaks so highly of how the father has created everything, doesn't it?

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though and here is the other mind-blowing thing that I want you to think about when you go to the store and you go to the farmer's market, I want you to picture yourself strolling your produce stand.

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You're walking around, you're looking for the most beautiful, untouched specimen of mustard greens and watercress and arugula.

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You want those leaves pristine.

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You don't want any bug-eating holes on there.

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You don't want anything like that, so you're looking for the prettiest thing that you can find.

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Now, in light of what Jared's just shared, I want you to ask yourself is this the best thing that you should be looking for?

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Should you be looking for the cruciferous that have no holes in them, or should you look for the ones that have some holes?

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First of all, that's going to tell you that most likely, those things weren't sprayed, right?

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If you're picking up some kale that has a few holes in the leaves, it's probably not been sprayed.

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Okay, so it may be more likely to be organic or pesticide-free.

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But the other thing is, if they've been nibbled, if they've been chewed by a pest that has already started the process of converting the sulforaphane, so now you're going to have more sulforaphane in that plant by nature, in other words, the one that has the holes in it because it's been nibbled on by some bugs is actually going to be healthier for you.

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You do not always want to pick the prettiest produce Now.

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You want some with holes, but you don't want some with residents.

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You don't want any critters in the produce, but one with a few nibbles, and all that is totally fine.

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Don't shy away from those.

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And this makes you wonder is this the only molecule that is increased in the plant when it gets nibbled, the only one that's beneficial for us and helps the plant fight the invaders as well?

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This is not the only one.

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There is another compound that is well known to us all.

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Aspirin in the form of salicylates is found in some leafy greens.

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When they get chewed on by little bugs and little pests, so the plant releases the salicylates to act as a deterrent to scare away the pests.

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So in that instance you don't necessarily want the prettiest produce.

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It's going to have the salicylates naturally in it, which help to fight inflammation, help to keep our blood nice and flowing and have tons of health benefits.

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And these are just two of the things we know right.

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Yes, and this further highlights the grand design.

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Yes.

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One function in a plant and another function for us to optimize our health.

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I just have trouble believing that this could have just evolved.

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I mean, there are just too many coincidences.

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It's insane.

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Absolutely mind-blowing in an incredible way.

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So your takeaway today is don't always feel like you need to choose the prettiest produce.

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Some with some holes where it's been nibbled a little bit is quite all right.

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Like Jared said, you don't want to pick up the produce that has an active infestation because that's probably not healthy produce, right.

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But if it's been nibbled on a little bit by bugs, it could indicate that, number one, it hasn't been necessarily sprayed or sprayed heavily and, number two, it could already be higher in the nutrients you actually want if optimal health is your goal.

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Friend, we have loved having you join us again for Power on Plants.

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Know that you are loved, you are prayed for and we will see you again very soon.

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Thank you.