Carrot and your health: Things to note

The carrot is a root vegetable which has an
Indo-European origin. The tap-root of this
vegetable is the edible part and it is
considered to be nutritious and good for
health. It is a rich source of many different
nutrients such as proteins, carbohydrates,
vitamins, iron among other important
nutrients required by the body to flourish.
The chemical known as beta-carotene
makes carrot an important food source in
fighting several health problems. This root,
which has a scientific name of Daucus
Carota, is a good source of antioxidant
agents as well.
Both adults and children like carrots
because of its crunchy texture and sweet
taste. Even though the colour of original
carrot is orange ,it also grows in other
colors including white, yellow, red and
purple. Of all the commonly consumed
vegetables, carrots provide the highest
amount of vitamin A carotenes.
Carrots also offer an excellent source of
fiber, vitamin K, and biotin. Carrots are good
source of vitamins B6 and C, potassium and
thiamine. Carrots contain a large amount of
antioxidant compounds which help to
protect the body against cardiovascular
disease and cancer. The high intake of
carotene has been linked with a 20 percent
decrease in postmenopausal breast cancer
and up to a 50 percent decrease in the
cancers of the
cervix, bladder, colon, prostate, larynx, and
esophagus.
Extensive studies have shown that a diet
that includes at least one carrot per day
could cut the rate of lung cancer by half.
The overwhelming health benefits of
carrots and the type of health problems
addressed by the use of carrot are
underscored below.
Thus there were still other ailments that can
be prevented with carrot that are not
mentioned here to tell you the multifarious
health importance of this root vegetable
that Nigeria is witnessing its season now.
Prevention of heart diseases is the foremost
health importance of carrots. In a study
meant to reveal therapeutic value of carrots
researchers at the Wolfson Gastrointestinal
Laboratory in Edinburgh, Scotland revealed
that cholesterol level reduces by 11 percent
if seven ounces of raw carrots is taken a
day for three weeks.
High cholesterol is a major factor for heart
disease. Since regular consumption of
carrots reduces cholesterol level it is good
to prevent heart related problems. Research
in Italy found that those who ate more
carrots had one third the risk of heart attack
as compared with those who ate fewer
carrots.
Carrot helps in cancer prevention. Beta-
carotene consumption has been linked to
reduced risk of several cancers, notably
lung cancer. British researchers discovered
that increasing beta-carotene consumption
from 1.7 to 2.7 milligrams a day reduced
lung cancer risk more than 40 percent. The
average carrot contains about three
milligrams of Beta-carotene. In a study,
researchers found that eating fiber rich
carrots reduce the risk of colon cancer by as
much as 24 percent.
Another study shows that women who ate
raw carrots were five to eight times less
likely to develop breast cancer than women
who did not eat carrots.
Macular degeneration is another health
problem that can effectively be addressed
by cancer. Macular degeneration is a
common eye disease associated with
elderly people.