This humble veggie won't just help you see in the dark, it can boost your wellbeing too. Photo / 123RF
This humble veggie won't just help you see in the dark, it can boost your wellbeing too. Photo / 123RF
Your grandparents weren’t wrong about this humble vegetable for your eye health, but how else can they boost your wellbeing?
Next time you find yourself looking for a healthy snack, skip the apple and grab a handful of carrots. According to a new study, eating some baby carrotsjust three times a week significantly increases skin carotenoids.
Carotenoids are phytonutrients (chemicals that occur naturally in plants) responsible for the red, orange, and yellow colour of many fruits and vegetables like grapefruit, carrots, bell peppers, tomato, and pumpkin. Previous research has linked higher levels of carotenoids (which accumulate in the skin) with a lower risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease and some cancers. People with higher levels of carotenoids also have improved skin health and stronger immune function. And the only way to get phytonutrients is by consuming them.
According to the new study, researchers from Samford University in Alabama gave 60 young adult students either Granny Smith apple slices, 100g of baby carrots (which is roughly equivalent to two medium carrots), a multivitamin supplement containing beta carotene or a combination of baby carrots and the supplement, which were consumed three times a day over four weeks.
The study found that the students who ate apple slices or took the supplement on its own didn’t see higher levels of carotenoids. However, those who ate baby carrots had 10.8% higher levels, and those who ate carrots in addition to the supplement had 21.6% higher levels.
Carotenoids have caught the attention of nutritionists because the body can break them down into two molecules which can then be converted into vitamin A.
“You can get vitamin A from meat, but if you’re on a vegetarian diet or you don’t eat meat regularly, it’s important to eat plenty of carrots,” says Dr Kirsten Brandt, a senior lecturer in human nutrition and member of Human Nutrition Research Centre at Newcastle University, who has been studying the health benefits of carrots for 25 years.
“You need a certain level of carotenoids like lutein which you’ll find more of in yellow carrots,” says Dr Brandt. “If you get absolutely no lutein for a very long time, it’ll affect your eyesight, but you don’t need very much to get the benefit.”
“People tend to think carotenoids help prevent cancer but it actually seems to be polyacetylenes,” explains Dr Brandt. “If you find a person with a lot of carotenoids in their skin and blood it’s a sign they’ve been eating carrots, but that doesn’t mean the carotenoids are doing anything in themselves. [But] we know that polyacetylenes work because we’ve done studies on them outside of carrots, and they have the same anti-cancer effect.”
Spring carrots with orange chervil and honey. Photo / Babiche Martens
Full of fibre
Carrots contain some of the highest levels of fibre of any vegetable, which makes them important for digestive health. Fibre also takes a long time to break down, making you feel fuller for longer.
“Fibre plays a really important role in supporting the gut microbiome,” explains nutritionist and author of How To Stay Healthy Jenna Hope. “The gut microbiome is a collection of bacteria in the gut, good and bad. By incorporating more fibre into our diet, we feed the good bacteria, which means less space for the bad bacteria. Those good bacteria produce short-chain fatty acids which are associated with all kinds of health benefits, from improving mental well-being to boosting our immune system, to improving our sleep.
“If you have a lot of good bacteria, you may find it easier to eat more healthily – when we have high levels of the bad gut bacteria we are more likely to crave high-sugar and high-fat foods.”
Fibre will also slow down the release of sugar into the bloodstream, so if you have a dessert after your big plate of carrots, you’ll get a less intense “sugar rush” and afterwards won’t find yourself craving more unhealthy treats later.
While research into the subject is still ongoing, there are some scientists who think eating carrots might help reduce the risk of skin cancer. “I know one researcher who is looking into a gene which makes it more difficult to convert carotene into vitamin A,” Dr Brandt explains. “The gene is more commonly found in people in northern Europe and this researcher’s hypothesis is that this is to keep the carotene in the skin for longer, which prevents skin cancer, helping that gene get passed on in people with fair skin.”
There are some scientists who think eating carrots might help reduce the risk of skin cancer. Photo / 123rf
Are there alternative benefits with different coloured carrots?
“In medieval times, carrots were not orange, they were more commonly white or yellow,” says Dr Brandt. “Orange carrots became popular, so now that’s what we think of when we think of carrots, but you’ll get the same benefits from other colours.”
While all carrots – purple, red, white, and yellow – taste roughly the same and have the same levels of fibre, they contain slightly different types of carotenoids.
“Yellow ones have lutein which is good for eye health, purple carrots have anthocyanin which may have a benefit for heart health according to some ongoing studies, while white carrots don’t have pigment so you don’t need to worry about turning orange,” says Dr Brandt. “But honestly, our impression is that most carrots, regardless of colour, have broadly the same health applications.”
There is a minor downside to carotenoids accumulating under the skin. All that orange pigment can turn your skin orange.
“It tends to cluster around your hands and feet,” says Hope. “It’s not actually harmful, but it looks a bit like you’ve had some bad fake tan on you for a while.”
How should you eat carrots for the maximum health benefits?
“Ideally you shouldn’t peel carrots because a lot of the fibre is in the skin,” says Hope. “Wash them first, obviously. If it’s within your budget, organic carrots are quite easy to come by because they’re fairly easy to grow.”
Beyond that, it’s worth eating carrots with a source of healthy fat. “You could cook them with a bit of olive oil, serve them with hummus, or drizzle them with tahini,” suggests Hope. “That will help with the absorption of the carotene and help ensure you get all the positive effects.”
Cooking a carrot also helps break down some of the carotenoid compounds, making it easier for the body to convert into vitamin A too. “However, carrots are also a good source of vitamin C and that will destabilise if you cook them, so it’s good to have a mix of cooked and uncooked carrots in your diet,” Hope adds.
