Do You Know What Is The Perfect Health Food? Carrots!

Every time you consume something, you are either attracting disease or preventing it. Hence, it is important to cultivate healthy eating habits that are sustainable. Including carrots in your diet is one of them. The carrot (Daucus carota) is a root vegetable often claimed to be the

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perfect health food. This is because carrots are incredibly nourishing. In fact, carrots were first grown as medicine (and not food). There is more to carrots than what most of you might know. It is crunchy, tasty, and highly nutritious. Carrots are a particularly good source of beta carotene, fiber, vitamin K1, potassium, and antioxidants. They also have a number of health benefits. They’re a weight-loss-friendly food and have been linked to lower cholesterol levels and improved eye health. Carrots are found in many colors, including yellow, white, orange, red, and purple. Orange carrots get their bright color from beta carotene, an antioxidant that your body converts into vitamin A.

In today’s kitchens, you’ll find carrots in everything, from healthy vegetable soups to salads. They can also be juiced and sliced into sticks for raw snacking. Carrots can be sliced, grated, julienned, sautéed, puréed, and baked as chips. It can also be found at every supermarket, local stalls across Guyana.

This article tells you everything you need to know about carrots.

What Do They Taste Like?

Carrots can range in flavor from sweet to piney and herbal to woody to soapy and bitter, depending on the variety and growing conditions. Cooked carrots release the sugar in their cells, so roasting or steaming them brings out the sweetness.

Where Did Carrots Come From?

Carrots originate from Afghanistan, Central Asia, from where it spread to Europe and the rest of the world. Although it was already known by the Greeks and the Romans, it was not until the XVIIth century that the first orange carrots appeared. Nowadays, its culture has spread all over the world. The main producing country is China, followed by the United States and Russia.

Description Of Carrot

The carrot plant produces a rosette of 8–12 leaves above ground and a fleshy conical taproot below ground. The plant produces small (2 mm) flowers which are white, red or purple in color. The root can grow to between 5 and 50 cm (2.0–20 in) long and reach 5 cm (2.0 in) in diameter. The foliage of the plant can reach a height of 150 cm (59.1 in) when in flower. The carrot plant can be annual or biennial and may also be referred to as wild carrot.

Nutritional Value Of Carrot

Carrots are rich in Vitamin A and an abundant source of Vitamin D, C, K and E. It also possesses minerals such as calcium, potassium, and magnesium. Due to the high amount of fiber, it acts as a cleansing agent. The serving size of 100 grams provides 41 calories, 4.74 grams of sugar, 9.58 grams of carbohydrate and 0.93 gram of protein. The same amount provides 3.30% of calcium needs, 6.56% of Vitamin C needs and 3.75% of iron needs per serving.

Here Are 8 Incredible Health Benefits Of Carrot

1. Regulate Blood Cholesterol– High cholesterol is a major factor causing heart diseases, and regular consumption of carrots reduces cholesterol levels. Hence it is a good idea to consume a healthy dose of carrots a few times per week, in order to prevent heart-related problems. Researchers during a study on the therapeutic value of carrots found that cholesterol levels drop by an average of 11 percent if consumed for three weeks.
2. Improve Eye Health – Dr. Lindeboom found in his research that a deficiency of vitamin A can cause some difficulty seeing in dim light, leading to night blindness. Since they are rich in vitamin A, a study to determine the antioxidant capacity of seven-colored carrots also suggests they are good for improving eye health and preventing conditions like night blindness from developing as we age.
3. Manage diabetes – Carotenoids, as per a study published in the journal of Preventive Nutrition and Food Science in 2018. Carotenoids inversely affect insulin resistance and lower blood sugar, thereby helping people with diabetes live a normal, healthy life. Carrots also regulate the amount of insulin and glucose being used and metabolized by the body, providing a healthy fluctuation in those with diabetes.
4. Lower Blood Pressure – Scientific research indicates that coumarin found in carrots is linked to reducing hypertension and protecting your heart. They are rich sources of potassium, which is a vasodilator and relaxes the tension in your blood vessels and arteries, thereby increasing blood flow and circulation. Furthermore, it aids in boosting organ function throughout the body and reducing the stress on the cardiovascular system.
5. Boost Immunity – Carrots contain a number of antiseptic and antibacterial properties that make them ideal for boosting the immune system. Not only that, they are a rich source of vitamin C, stimulating the activity of white blood cells and are an important core of the human body system.
6. Reduce Macular Degeneration – This is a common eye disease of the elderly that impairs the function of the macula. Research has found that people who ate a high amount of beta-carotene had a forty percent lower risk of macular degeneration. Therefore, carrots are an all-around vision booster.
7. Improve Oral Health – The organic compounds in carrots are good mineral antioxidants and they also stimulate the gums and induce excess saliva.
8. Reduce the Risk of Stroke – Eating a carrot every day reduces the risk of stroke by 68 percent. Many studies have a concrete belief in the “carrot effect” on the brain. Lutein, a carotenoid present in carrots, has been positively linked to improved brain health, according to a study conducted by the researchers at The University of Illinois. Studies conducted on stroke patients revealed that those with high levels of beta-carotene also had a good survival rate.

Note:

• Carrots are generally considered safe to eat but may have adverse effects on some people.
• Additionally, eating too much carotene can cause your skin to become a little yellow or orange, but this is harmless.

About Carrots

Carrots are the perfect snack — crunchy, full of nutrients, low in calories, and sweet. They’re associated with heart and eye health, improved digestion, and even weight loss as stated in the article. This root vegetable comes in several colors, sizes, and shapes, all of which are great additions to a healthy diet.

Article References:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrot
• https://www.frutas–hortalizas.com/Vegetables/Origin–production–Carrot.html
• https://www.organicfacts.net/health-benefits/vegetable/carrots.html
• https://www.naturalfoodseries.com/11-benefits-carrots/