Carrots

From our September 13, 2010 newsletter:

Everyone knows that carrots are good for your eyes.  But, do you know why else carrots are good for you?  The biggest surprise is that carrots are full of antioxidants compounds!  The richest vegetable source of the pro-vitamin A carotenes is the reason carrots are good for your eyes. Carrots' antioxidant compounds help protect against cardiovascular disease, cancer and also promote good vision.

Six epidemiological studies looked at the association of diets high in carotenoids and heart disease.  The research demonstrated that high-carotenoid diets are associated with a reduced risk of heart disease. One study examined the diets of 1,300 elderly persons, those who had at least one serving of carrots and/or squash each day had a 60% reduction in their risk of heart attacks compared to those who ate less than one serving of these carotenoid-rich foods per day.

Beta-carotene helps to protect vision, especially night vision. After beta-carotene is converted to vitamin A in the liver, it travels to the retina where it is transformed into rhodopsin, a purple pigment that is necessary for night-vision. Plus beta-carotene's powerful antioxidant actions help provide protection against macular degeneration and the development of senile cataracts, the leading cause of blindness in the elderly.

Did you know that carrots help fight off cancer?  Scientists now think that carrots' protective effects are the result of a team effort among several substances abundant in carrots, including alpha-carotene, another less publicized carotenoid.  Although best known for their high content of beta carotene, carrots also contain a phytonutrient called falcarinol that may be responsible for the recognized epidemiological association between frequently eating carrots and a reduced risk of cancers.  Falcarinol provides protection against colon cancer, suggests a study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.  Carrots are by far one of the richest source of carotenoids – just one cup provides 16,679 IUs of beta-carotene and 3,432 REs (retinol equivalents), or roughly 686.3% the RDA for vitamin-A. High carotenoid intake has been linked with a 20% decrease in postmenopausal breast cancer and an up to 50% decrease in the incidence of cancers of the bladder, cervix, prostate, colon, larynx, and esophagus. Extensive studies suggest that a diet including as little as one carrot per day could conceivably cut the rate of lung cancer in half. A recent National Cancer Institute study found lung cancer occurrence was higher in men whose diets did not supply a healthy intake of alpha-carotene.

If you or someone you love is a smoker, or if you are frequently exposed to secondhand smoke, then making vitamin A rich foods, such as carrots, part of your healthy way of eating may save your life, suggests research conducted at Kansas State University.  While studying the relationship between vitamin-A, lung inflammation, and emphysema, Richard Baybutt, associate professor of nutrition at Kansas State, made a surprising discovery: a common carcinogen in cigarette smoke, benzo(a)pyrene, induces vitamin A deficiency.  Diets rich in vitamin-A can help counter this effect, thus greatly reducing the risk of emphysema.

What about other nutrients?  One cup of carrots contains 11.35 mg vitamin C, another immunity booster.  That same cup contains 16.10 mcg of vitamin K, a necessary nutrient for blood health.  Carrots also contain vitamins B1 (thiamin), B2 (riboflavin), B3 (niacin), B6, B9 (folate), B12, biotin, D, and E.   Carrots also contain many minerals – 1 cup contains calcium (32.94 mg); magnesium (18.30 mg); phosphorus (53.68 mg); potassium (394.06 mg); and sodium (42.70 mg).  Carrots also contain smaller amounts of boron, chloride, chromium, copper, fluoride, iodine, iron, manganese, molybdenum, selenium and zinc.   Carrots are mostly comprised of water – 1 cup contains 107.10 grams.  They also contain no cholesterol, approximately 15% of the daily recommended amount of dietary fiber and all for only 52.46 calories.

Carrots are a vegetable that can store well for 4 to 5 months or more if properly taken care of.  You can either clean them before storing, or leave them dirty, though the dirt will become harder to remove later.  The greens should always be trimmed within ½ inch of the top of the root before storing, as they will wick moisture out of the root if left intact.  Carrots left out in the open air will become limp, so they should be placed in a tightly sealed bag and put in the coldest part of the refrigerator as soon as possible.  (Avoid storing them just below freezing though as the slow crystalization of the water they contain can cause the plant's cells to burst leaving the carrot mushy.) 

Always store carrots in the vegetable crisper and not with fruit, as sharing space with fruit can cause the carrots to become bitter over time.