The health benefits of carrots
They have multiple benefits including promoting:
Better vision
Carrots are high in carotenoids, most notably beta-carotene3. Our bodies convert this into Vitamin A which is crucial in helping maintain good eye health and vision. Yes, carrots really do help your eyesight but it’s a lack of Vitamin A that causes your eyesight to deteriorate4. It’s transformed into rhodopsin which helps with night vision5.A healthy heart
Simply eating a few carrots a day could do you a world of good in preventing coronary heart disease. A recent decade long study shows that carrots could potentially cut the risk of CHD by as much as a third6. Similarly, carrots, along with green vegetables and fresh fruit, have the positive effect of decreasing the chance of heart attacks in women7.A happy mind
It’s been found that beta-carotene can help slow down cognitive decline8. This means that there’s a reduced risk of declining memory or thinking skills. Given the fact that carrots contain enough beta-carotene for 210% of your daily Vitamin A, I’d say there’s no better place to get it9.Beautiful skin
The Vitamin A that carrots provide is perfect for your skin. It’s an antioxidant and so attacks free radicals, helping reduce the appearance of wrinkles10. They are also rich in Vitamin C, which is perfect for repairing sun damage and preventing pigmentation11. This carrot body butter is filled with all the goodness you could ever need.
7 tasty ways you can add carrots to your diet
Here are 7 ideas to help you add more carrots into your daily meal plans:
Fries
Mix it up a bit and bake some carrots into fries. A nice mixture of baked carrots and your usual oven-baked chips will go a long way in chasing down that elusive five a day.
Pizzas
Pizzas are perfect for sneaking in some of those vegetables. You can still enjoy your traditional pizza but may be throw some veggies in or simply grate a carrot, tear it up, and sprinkle it on. You’ll still get maximum taste with no fuss.
Soups
Similar to pizzas, soups are the perfect excuse to pile up on those veggies. Your little ones will lap it up no problem and they won’t even know how healthy it is for them.
Chocolate cupcakes
Carrot and cupcakes may not seem like the perfect combination, but add a carrot to the batter, top it with icing, and bask in the crazy brilliance of your creation. Who knew cupcakes could be so good for you?
Burgers
Puree some carrots (and sweet potato if you fancy it) and mix them in with your usual recipes. It doesn’t impact upon the deliciousness of that classic home-made burger but it will bring with it some serious health benefits.
Smoothies and Juices
One of the easiest ways to incorporate carrots into your daily routine is in liquid form. Instead of pouring yourself a glass of fruit juice in the morning, filled with all that sugar, grab a bottle of carrot juice. Sure it sounds peculiar but there’s nothing strange about the health benefits that come with it.
Alternatively, try adding carrot into a smoothie. It’s the easiest way to get the good stuff without the taste.
Cookies
If you’re being truly adventurous, try throw a few carrots into a cookie. Everyone loves cookies and it’s great to get creative every now and then. Just sprinkle a bit of grated carrot into your usual recipe for a healthy kick.
Take a look at the rest of our recipes on the Health Hub for some healthy ideas
1 http://advances.nutrition.org/content/3/4/506.full
2 http://file.scirp.org/pdf/FNS_2014120411490798.pdf
3 http://advances.nutrition.org/content/3/4/506.full
4 https://www.dukehealth.org/blog/myth-or-fact-eating-carrots-improves-eyesight
5 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3738993/
6 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/5660BB96A4C2EDD494AC354FC267AFDB/S0007114511001942a.pdf/div-class-title-colours-of-fruit-and-vegetables-and-10-year-incidence-of-chd-div.pdf
7 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1662535/#
8 http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/413413
9 http://www.carrotmuseum.co.uk/nutrition.html
10 http://file.scirp.org/pdf/FNS_2014120411490798.pdf
11 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3673383/