The carrots are full of health benefits. Here are some of the top reasons to eat them more often, especially when we have fresh, freshly harvested carrots in our garden.
We can eat raw carrots, vinaigrette or pickles or even cooked and seasoned with a strand of raw olive oil/ mustard oil, to obtain its various beneficial effects for health.
Do not forget the best way to take raw carrots is through the preparation of delicious and healthy homemade juices.
Benefits of Carrots
1. Carrots Fights Ageing
he presence of vitamin C and beta carotene makes carrots, one of the vegetables particularly rich in antioxidants, substances useful for fighting free radicals and aging. In general, eating fruits and vegetables helps to maintain health and prevent premature deterioration. Among the foods most rich in antioxidants are strawberries, blackberries, pitanga, tomatoes, blueberries, and peppers.
2. Improves Male Fertility
The carrots can improve male fertility and sperm quality. Researchers have found that consuming orange or yellow fruits and vegetables, such as carrots, melons, and sweet potatoes, can improve sperm quality by up to 10 percent. This research was published in the journal Fertility and Sterility with the title ” Semen quality in relation to antioxidant intake in a healthy male population ” based on work by the team of Jorge Chavarro, an American researcher.
3. Carrots are healthy Raw or Cooked
The carrots are good for your health, raw or cooked, but for different reasons. If you want to better absorb beta-carotene – a precursor of vitamin A – found in carrots, then even eating them cooked and seasoned with a strand of olive oil will help. The beta-carotene is more easily assimilated by the body after the food passes through a quick cooking. Vitamin A is fat soluble, and therefore for its absorption, it is important to accompany the dish with a healthy fat like mustard oil.
However, on the other hand, in cooking some vitamins such as vitamin C, which are sensitive to heat, deteriorate. So best of all and eat carrots in both ways, raw and cooked.
4. Carrots are Skin, Beauty Friendly
Some Scottish researchers, in a study published in the scientific journal PLoS ONE, analyzed the eating habits of 35 university students for six weeks. As a result, people who regularly consumed yellow, red and orange fruits and vegetables, with particular reference to carrots and their beta-carotene richness, were found to have much more relaxed and smooth skin.
5. Increase Life Expectancy
Another US-led study by Li Chaoyang in the “Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey” evaluated 15,000 volunteers over 20 years and found that levels of alpha-carotene in the blood are inversely proportional to the risk of death. In other words, the regular intake of fresh fruits and vegetables rich in natural antioxidants, such as the carotene found in carrots, helps prevent premature death.
6. Carrots Prevents Childhood Obesity
Researchers at two American universities in Texas and South Carolina, published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, said that carrots can help fight obesity. A balanced diet that includes green leafy vegetables such as spinach and broccoli, Orange juice, such as carrots and yellow fruits such as orange, help prevent childhood obesity, which is key to maintaining children’s health.
7. Eating carrot favors the Tan
Eating carrots, and other orange-colored foods help promote a nice tan, which a lot of people want. And this is because carrots are rich in beta-carotene, which is a stimulant of melanin, a substance that promotes skin coloration and protects against ultraviolet rays.
8. Carrots For Healthy Vision
The carrots contain lots of vitamin A , which is essential for healthy vision, contributing especially to sharpen night vision and protect eyes. Other good foods for the eyes are pumpkin, melon and apricot.
9. Carrots are Bowel Friendly
The consumption of carrots is recommended in the case of diarrhea because of its rich vitamins, which helps to reintegrate the body, and pectin, useful for bowel functioning. Carrots can be eaten in the form of puree , or as fresh juice to be consumed at room temperature.
10. To Prevent Colon Cancer
Researchers at the University of Queensland have studied the benefits of black carrots to prevent colon cancer. Polyphenols and fibers, two of the substances that exist in abundance in black carrots, would be the key to the anti-tumor effects of these vegetables. In particular, the fibers that carry polyphenols into the colon can play a preventive effect on cancer in this part of the body.
