Naturally sugary, delicious and crunchy, carrots are healthy additions that you can make to the vegetable list in your diet. Indeed, these root vegetables come with wholesome health benefiting compounds such as beta-carotenes, falcarinol, vitamin A, minerals and anti-oxidants in ample amounts.
According to the United States Department of Agriculture, one medium carrot or ½ cup of chopped carrots is considered a serving size. One serving size of carrots provides 25 calories, 6 grams of carbohydrate, 3 grams of sugars and 1 gram of protein, according to whfoods.com.
Carrots are an excellent source of vitamin A, providing 210% of the average adult's needs for the day. They also provide 6% of vitamin C needs, 2% of calcium needs and 2% of iron needs per serving.
It is the antioxidant beta-carotene that gives carrots their bright orange color. Beta-carotene is absorbed in the intestine and converted into vitamin A during digestion, according to whfoods.com.
Carrots also contain fiber, vitamin K, potassium, folate, manganese, phosphorous, magnesium, vitamin E and zinc.
The high vitamin A content, for which carrots are best known, comes from beta-carotene, which is converted into vitamin A in your liver. Interestingly, there's a reason why 'carrot' and 'carotene' sound so alike. The word carotene was devised in the early 19th century by a German scientist after he crystallized the compound from carrot roots.
Carrot seed oil also contains potassium, vitamin B6, copper, folic acid, thiamine and magnesium. I generally recommend eating carrots in moderation because they contain more sugar than any other vegetable aside from beets,
They are exceptionally rich source of carotenes and vitamin-A. 100 g fresh carrot contains 8285 µg of beta-carotene and 16706 IU of vitamin A. Studies have found that flavonoid compounds in carrots help protect from skin, lung and oral cavity cancers.
Carotenes are converted into vitamin A in the liver. Beta-carotene is the major carotene that is present in these roots. Beta carotene is one of the powerful natural anti-oxidant that helps protect body from harmful oxygen-free radical injury. In addition, it also has all the functions of vitamin A such as maintaining good eye health, reproduction, maintenance of epithelial integrity, growth and development.
Carrots are rich in poly-acetylene antioxidant, falcarinol. Research study conducted by scientists at University of Newcastle on laboratory animals has found that falcarinol in carrots may help fight against cancers by destroying pre-cancerous cells in the tumors.
Fresh roots are also good in vitamin C; provide about 9% of RDA. Vitamin C is water soluble anti-oxidant. It helps the body maintain healthy connective tissue, teeth and gum. Its anti-oxidant property helps the human body protect from diseases and cancers by scavenging action on harmful free radicals.
In addition, they are especially rich in many B-complex groups of vitamins such as folic acid, vitamin B-6 ,thiamin, pantothenic acid, etc., that acts as co-factors to enzymes during substrate metabolism in the body.
Further, they also compose healthy levels of minerals like copper, calcium, potassium, manganese and phosphorus. Potassium is an important component of cell and body fluids that helps controlling heart rate and blood pressure by countering effects of sodium. Manganese is used by the body as a co-factor for the antioxidant enzyme, superoxide dismutase.
Precautions
Overconsumption of vitamin A can be toxic to humans, but is unlikely to be achieved through diet alone. Overconsumption of carotene may cause a slight orange tinge in skin color but is not harmful to health.
