Carrots are the most preferred vegetable not only in India but also loved by across the globe. This orange coloured vegetable is not just best for salad items but it comes with many more than that. It’s a wonderful vegetable which is often regarded as the ultimate health food which comes with many health benefits. If we look at its history, the carrot was first cultivated in the area now known as Afghanistan thousands of years ago. It was a small, forked purple or yellow root with a bitter, woody flavour, quite different from the carrot we know today. There is also a never-ending debate over its eating style. Should we eat in raw or cooked?
Let’s know A-Z about this amazing vegetable and its health benefits.
Amazing Facts of carrots-
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Carrots were first grown in Asia, but they were not orange.
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It’s a wonderful vegetable which contains antioxidants that protect against
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While they may not help you see in the dark, the vitamin A in carrots helps prevent vision loss.
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Carrots are available all year round and can be used in savoury dishes, cakes, and juices.
Carrot Benefits
Cancer
Cancer is a life-threatening disease. A variety of dietary carotenoids have been shown to have anti-cancer effects, due to their antioxidant power in reducing free radicals in the body.
The research found a possible link between diets rich in carotenoids and a lower risk of prostate cancer, but more evidence is needed to confirm whether the link is causal.
Lung Cancer
As we know, carrots contain beta-carotene which is a supplementation which may reduce the risk of lung cancer.
A meta-analysis of 2008 found that people with a high intake of a variety of carotenoids had a 21 per cent lower risk of lung cancer, after adjusting for smoking, compared with those who did not.
Good for Leukemia
As per a 2011 research study, it is found that carrot juice extract could kill leukaemia cells and inhibit their progression.
Natural Medicine for Vision-
If you wonder whether it’s true or false, then you should know that it’s true. It helps you to increase your vision.
As we know carrots contain vitamin A which deficiency can be led to xerophthalmia, a progressive eye disease that can damage normal vision and result in night blindness, or the inability to see in low light or darkness.
As per the National Institutes of Health (NIH), a lack of vitamin A is one of the main preventable causes of blindness in children.
Should We Eat it Raw or Cooked?
Generally, we have believed that many vegetables, including carrots, should be eaten raw, or they lose many vitamins. But, although this is the right way not to make them lose vitamin C, which is easily destroyed with heat, carrots hold other surprises.
Many people don’t know that Beta-carotene is not a heat-sensitive nutrient. Therefore, it is not destroyed with a short cooking time; actually, when this vegetable is cooked, the cell walls of the plant tissues soften, making it easier for our digestive system to assimilate this precious substance. Basically, short cooking time increases the assimilation of beta-carotene. But you shouldn’t cook the root too much: it should remain compact and crunchy.
Carrot Juice
Another way to eat this healthy vegetable is in its juice form. You won't believe that carrot juice is very nutritious and healthy. You can easily make carrot juice at home within 5 minutes. So this winter do utilize all the benefits of carrot juice.
