The Importance of Plant Foods

Why plant hormetic compounds can be crucial environmental signals that curate bioenergetics.

The following is an attempt to begin connecting the dots of what I have called “The Environmental Gradients Hypothesis”¹. While I am still working through the finer details of some aspects of this hypothesis, I feel as though I am getting a firmer grasp on how plant compounds interact with the human body in terms of fitness. Here I have used capsaicin as an example as it has clear and memorable effects when consumed. Chilli peppers also have a strong cultural significance in certain parts of the world where they grow - an important part of this concept.

Chilis come in many varieties with varying degrees of spice and pungency. They have become central to many cuisines worldwide, particularly in more equatorial regions. Their capsaicinoids may be a beneficial environmental signal that can promote fitness.

It is not easy to debate the fact that epidemiological studies demonstrate associations between consumption of plant foods and positive health outcomes. Many people feel the need to question such findings, primarily those in the carnivore movement; however, I want to ask why this appears to be the case. Humans have been consuming plant foods since before we were even human. The notion that they are inherently toxic (which in some sense is true) and therefore should not be consumed is a leap I find very difficult to make. This gap is bridged by the concept of hormesis.²

Hormesis is often simplified to the notion that “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”. This is what we are experiencing when we eat plant hormetic compounds (PHC). These compounds are often toxic to humans, however, in natural (often traditional) circumstances, are not consumed in quantities to result in net adverse effects. Rather, in natural circumstances, PHC yield net-positive effects on fitness³. It should be noted that “natural circumstances” not only refers to dose or frequency of consumption, but also the context within which it is consumed. For instance, consumption of chilis in equatorial regions by native peoples during peak growing season will result in very different effects compared to eating imported chilis in Oslo in December. This is fundamentally because the other environmental signals that are being received are incongruent with the signal we would receive from the chili.⁴

An interesting question is, do all PHC improve fitness via their own unique biochemical pathways? Or do they perhaps converge parsimoniously to affect a fundamental aspect (or aspects) of biological systems? I suspect the latter. Molecular databases such as FooDB have over 70,000 documented (this is likely under 1% of the actual number) unique molecules present in various foods⁵. It is not parsimonious to think that each of these occupy their own niche of receptors and signal cascades. While I use capsaicin as an example here, I suspect similar concepts can be applied to all PHC with regard to how they modulate organismal fitness.⁶