Vitamins and Minerals in Carrots – Health Benefits of Carrots

The health benefits of carrots include reduced cholesterol, prevention from heart attacks, warding off of certain cancers, improving vision, and reducing the signs of premature aging. Furthermore, carrots have the ability to increase the health of your skin, boost the immune system, improve digestion, increase cardiovascular health, detoxify the body, and boost oral health in a variety of ways.  They also provide a well-rounded influx of vitamins and minerals.

Carrots are an excellent source for carotene, which is converted to vitamin A in the human body. Carrots also provide a whole host of other essential vitamins, B1, B2,C, D and E which are antioxidants that reduce free radicals cell damage and heal and nourish the skin. Carrots are extremely rich in potassium and contain magnesium, vitamin B6, folic acid, thiamine, and cholesterol reducing calcium pectate. Carrots also have small amounts of carbohydrates, essential oils, iron, copper, phosphorus and sulphur1. Packed with all of these vitamins and minerals, carrots are a very healthy food.

Nutritional Value of Carrots :-

Most of the benefits of carrots can be attributed to their beta carotene and fiber content. This root vegetable is also a good source of antioxidant agents. Furthermore, carrots are rich in vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, vitamin B8, pantothenic acid, folate, potassium, iron, copper, and manganese.

Powerful antioxidants :-

Antioxidants help to fight cell damage done to the body by toxins that find their way from our environment into our bloodstream. Along with traditional antioxidants like vitamin C, carrots contain phytonutrient antioxidants like beta-carotene. Beta-carotene has some incredible benefits, and may protect the body from cancers of the lungs, stomach, colon, cervix, uterus, and the oral cavity.

Help prevent cardiovascular disease :-

There is a direct correlation between eating more carrots and lowering your risk of cardiovascular disease. Making carrots part of your everyday diet is an excellent way to prevent heart disease, and lower your cholesterol (a major factor for heart disease). Eating root vegetables like organic carrots also reduces the chances of having a heart attack.

Protect your vision :-

The retina of the eye needs vitamin A to function. Vitamin A deficiency can cause night blindness. Extra vitamin A can prevent night blindness as well as combat macular degeneration and the formation of cataracts to keep your eyes healthy.

Reduce the risk of stroke :-

A study from Harvard University indicates that eating more carrots can reduce the risk of suffering a stroke. The study suggests that eating more than five carrots a week can greatly reduce this risk.

Good for your teeth :-

Carrots act as natural abrasives, stimulating your gums and eliminating sticky plaque from your teeth. They help keep your teeth clean after meals by triggering saliva to help scrub stains on your teeth. The minerals found in carrots will also help kill germs in your mouth and prevent tooth damage.

Prevent Cancer :-

According to the American Institute for Cancer Research, the antioxidant beta-carotene contained in carrots is thought to protect cell membranes from oxidative stress and inhibit the growth of cancer cells. Carrots also contain a natural compound called falcarinol, which scientists found slowed the development of cancerous lesions when fed to rats. The antioxidants found in carrots are also thought to help ward off oral cancer, esophageal cancer,gastric cancer and cervical cancer.

Stay Heart Healthy :-

We know that exercising and eating a balanced diet with plenty of fruit and vegetables is the best way to maintain a healthy heart. But carrots may play a particularly important role in preventing coronary heart disease (CHD). A study of over 20,000 people, taking place over 10 years, found that a higher intake of deep orange fruit and vegetables, especially carrots, may protect against CHD. Regularly consuming carrots (along with fish and leafy greens) was also found to be associated with a lower risk of heart attack in women.

Health Benefits of Carrots

• Prevention of Heart Disease: In a study meant to reveal the therapeutic value of carrots, researchers at the Wolfson Gastrointestinal Laboratory in Edinburgh, Scotland revealed that cholesterol level drops by an average of 11 percent if seven ounces of raw carrots per day are taken for thee weeks.
• Blood Pressure: Next time you start getting riled up about something and your blood begins to boil, eat a carrot! Carrots are rich sources of potassium, which is a vasodilator and can relax the tension in your blood vessels and arteries, thereby increasing blood flow and circulation, boosting organ function throughout the body, and reducing the stress on the cardiovascular system.
• Immune Booster:  Carrots contain a number of antiseptic and antibacterial abilities that make it ideal for boosting the immune system. Not only that, carrots are a rich source of vitamin C, which stimulates the activity of white blood cells and is one of the most important elements in the human immune system.
• Digestion: Carrots, like most vegetables, have significant amounts of dietary fiber in those orange roots, and fiber is one of the most important elements in maintaining good digestive health. Fiber adds bulk to stool, which helps it to pass smoothly through the digestive tract, and it also stimulates peristaltic motion and the secretion of gastric juices.
• Macular Degeneration: This is a common eye disease of the elderly that impairs the function of the macula. Research has found that people who ate the most amount of beta-carotene had a forty percent lower risk ofmacular degeneration compared with those who consumed the least.
• Improves Eyesight: Deficiency of vitamin A can cause some difficulty seeing in dim light. Since carrots are rich in vitamin A, it is good for improving eyesight and preventing conditions like night blindness from developing as we age.