7 Health Benefits of Carrot
Carrots are known as the vegetable that is easy to grow, tasty and high nutrition. Both children and adults like carrots because of its sweet taste and crunchy texture.
Carrot or called Daucus carota is a vegetables grown throughout the year, especially in mountain areas that have cold temperatures and moist, approximately in height of 1200 meters above sea level.
Carrot plants can grow in almost all seasons. There are more than 100 species of carrots ranging from not only in colors but also its size from as small as two inches to three feet.
Carrots were first grown as medicine, not food, for a variety of ailments.
Nutritional Value of Carrots
A medium-size carrot has 25 calories, 6 grams of carbs, and 2 grams of fiber. The veggie is an excellent source of vitamin A, providing more than 200% of your daily requirement in just one carrot. Carrots also are loaded with beta-carotene, a compound that is naturally converted to vitamin A when consumed. The deeper orange the carrot, the more beta-carotene you’re getting.
Apart from that, carrots are also good sources of vitamin B1, vitamin B2, vitamin B6, vitamin K, biotin, fiber, potassium and thiamine.
Here are 7 health benefits of carrots for human body:
- Prevent Cancer
Many studies shown that eating carrots may help lower the risk of breast lung and colon cancer. Recently, researchers have isolated a compound called falcarinol in carrots that may be largely responsible for anti-cancer benefits. Falcarinol is a natural pesticide found in carrots that protects roots from fungal diseases. In daily diet, carrots are almost the only source of these compounds. A study conducted on mice found that they were fed with either raw carrots or falcarinol have one-third lower risk of developing colon cancer than mice not fed by them.
- Improve Vision
The retina of the eye needs vitamin A to function, lack of vitamin A causes night blindness. Carrots are rich in beta-carotene, a substance which converted into vitamin A in the liver. In the retina, vitamin A is transformed into rhodopsin, a purple pigment that necessary for night vision. In addition, beta-carotene help protect against macular degeneration and the development of senile cataracts. A study found that people who eat most Beta-carotene had 40 percent lower risk of macular degeneration than those who consumed little.
- Prevent heart disease
Studies shown that a diet high in carotenoids are associated with a lower risk of heart disease. Also, it is believed that regular consumption of carrots reduces cholesterol levels. Soluble fiber in carrots can help lower blood cholesterol levels by binding with and removing bile acids, cholesterol triggers would be pulled out from the bloodstream to make more bile acids.
- Reduce the risk of stroke
According to research from Harvard University, people who ate more than six carrots a week are much less likely to suffer a stroke than those who ate only one carrot a month or more.
- Nourish Skin
Carrot has a strong cleansing properties that are effective in detoxifying the liver, so that the overall effective for acne that is caused by toxins from the blood. Carrot is also useful for treating uneven skin tones because of pigmentation. The vitamin A and other nutrients contain in carrot efficiently nourish the skin, prevent dry skin and other skin blemishes.
- Anti-aging
Carrots contain a lot of beta-carotene, which serves as an antioxidant that helps the body to fight the cell damage done to the body with dirt in the bloodstream and even oxygen. It also help slows down the aging of cells and various negative effect associated with aging.
- Dental Health
Carrots can even help clean your teeth, and is the best way to keep your mouth clean after meals. They act as natural abrasives, help in eliminate the sticky dirt from the teeth and stimulate gums. They also trigger a lot of saliva, which helps to scrub away stains on your teeth. Minerals in carrots helps to kill germs in the mouth and prevent tooth damage.
Sources:
http://www.medicinalfoodnews.com/rss/inthenews.xml
http://www.healthonlinezine.info/7-health-benefits-of-carrots-nutritional-value-of-carrot.html
