A profound explanation of why eating green (wild) edible plants promote health and longevity

Abstract From 1970 research evidence has accumulated that the Mediterranean diet promotes health and longevity. Its main components include local (wild) green vegetables, Citrus fruits, and olive oil (extra virgin). Since the 1990s, experimental research on phytochemicals to explain why plant food is healthy and promotes longevity has grown exponentially. Nowadays, molecular biology provides deep explanations for many experimentally found health-promoting properties of plant species and their phytochemicals. The specialized approach is OK because it is the way research progresses. Mainly, nutritional researchers concentrate on a particular group of compounds such as flavonoids, phenolic compounds, carboxylic acids, fatty acids, etc. Science outside the research on nutrition deals with the same chemical compounds but which nutritional researchers generally do not follow. Plant biologists have found that all photosynthesizing plants share many compounds and ions. They are vital to plants. Some of the compounds and ions are also vital to humans. Plant biologists make a distinction between minerals, primary metabolites, and secondary metabolites. This distinction applies partly to humans. Plant minerals and primary metabolites often are essential to humans. Plant secondary metabolites are often not vital to humans, but experimental research has shown that they promote health and longevity. Eating local wild edible plants (WEP) also promotes sustainability. Wild edible plants are an ecosystem service. I have found 52 compounds and ions that all green edible plants share, promoting human health, well-being, and longevity. I present the evidence in this paper.