Carrots would be one of the most widely consumed and loved vegetables in the world, partially because they grow really easily and are versatile in all kinds of dishes and multicultural cuisines. You can forget all about vitamin A capsules. With the orange crunchy powerhouse, you get vitamin A and a lot of other potent health benefits including cancer prevention, beautiful skin and anti-aging. Here we have some effective ways to get the most health benefits from carrots-
10 Wonderful Health Benefits of Carrots You Didn’t Know
1. Perk up Vision
A carrot being “good for the eyes” is one of the few ideas they got right. They are rich in beta-carotene. It is converted into vitamin A inside the liver. Vitamin A is then transformed to rhodopsin in the retina, a purple pigment needed for night vision.
Beta-carotene can also protect against senile cataracts and macular degeneration. People who eat a lot of beta-carotene had forty percent lower risk of macular degeneration than people those who eat less.
2. Helps Prevent Cancer
Carrots decrease the risk of colon, lung and breast cancer. Researchers have found falcarinol and falcarindiol in carrots which are known to cause anticancer properties.Carrots are one of the few common sources of falcarinol, a compound that protects from fungal disease.
3. Slows Down Aging
The high levels of beta-carotene act as an antioxidant to damage of cell done to the body by normal metabolism. It will help slow down cell aging.
4. Promotes Healthier Skin
Vitamin A and antioxidants in carrots protect your skin from sun damage. Vitamin A deficiency causes dryness to skin, nails and hair. Vitamin A stops premature wrinkling, dry skin, acne, pigmentation, uneven skin tone and blemishes.
5. Helps Prevent Infection
Carrots can prevent infection. They could be used on any kind of cuts – boiled and mashed, or shredded raw.
6. Promotes Healthy Skin on the Outside
Carrots have always been used as a low price and convenient facial mask. Mix grated carrot with a little honey.
7. Prevents Heart Disease
Diets high in carotenoids are linked with low risks of heart disease. Carrots have beta-carotene along with lutein and alpha-carotene. Preventing heart disease is one of the most effective health benefits of carrots.
The normal consumption of carrots also decreases cholesterol levels, when soluble fibers in the carrots bind with the bile acids.
8. Cleanses the Body
Vitamin A helps the liver flush out toxins from your body. It reduces all the fat and bile in the liver. A great health benefit of carrots is that the fibers clean the colon and speed up waste movement.
9. Protects Teeth and Gums
One of the health benefits of carrots is that they clean your mouth and teeth. They graze off plaque and food like toothbrushes do. Carrots stimulate gum and trigger saliva, which is alkaline. It balances out acid forming and cavity-forming bacteria. Minerals present in carrots stop tooth damage.
10. Prevents Stroke
A Harvard University study showed that people who eat more than six carrots every week are less likely to suffer from a stroke than people who eat just one carrot every month or less.
Some Fun Facts About Carrots Here-
Now that we know the various health benefits of carrots, let’s find out some fun facts too-
- Rabbits love eating carrots but they should never eat too much. A rabbit eating a single carrot is similar to us eating almost 20. They like the sweetness of carrots. It is good for their teeth too. Carrots don’t have white sugar, yet too much of natural sugar causes digestive problems and diabetes. They probably would do better with the carrot tops.
- The biggest carrot recorded weighs more than 19 pounds; the longest one is over 19 feet.
- Carrots rank as the second most popular vegetable after potatoes.
- There are over 100 species of carrots.
- English women in the 1600’s wore carrot leaves in their hats instead of feathers or flowers.
- The name “carrot” came from the Greek word “karoton.” The beta-carotene found in carrots is actually named after the carrot itself.
The average American eats almost 12 pounds of carrots every year. That’s just one cup every week. We can easily triple it with the great benefits if we also eat a variety of other good vegetables. Therefore, all these health benefits of carrots should be enough for us to eat them with other goodies more and more.
