Carrots contains a very complete nutrition to provide our body the essential enzymes, vitamins and minerals. For each 100 grams, the carrot has 7.6 gram of carbohydrate, 0.6 gram of protein, 0.3 gram of fat, 30 milligram of calcium and 0.6 milligram of iron. Also, it is a good source of fiber, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, vitamin B6, vitamin C, vitamin K, biotin, potassium and thiamine.
Carrot also offers an excellence source of beta-carotene, which is 3.62milligram in each 100 gram of carrots. Many studies have shown that carrots provide us the highest amount of beta-carotene among the list of vegetables we always consume everyday.
The best thing of carrot is that it is easily assimilated by our body. Research has also found that carrots contains a bulk of folic acid, a group of vitamin B, which has good effect to fight against free radicals (substances that cause cancer) in our body. The lignin found in carrot too, helps to strengthen our immune system to fight against cancerous cells.
Carrot also provide a host of other benefits for the body:
- Carrots are excellent for the eyes and may improve eyesight and help with night blindness.
- Carrots contain large quantities of vitamin A, in the form of beta carotene. Beta carotene is an anti-oxidant, and thus it prevents cell degeneration. Anti-oxidants also slow down the aging process.
- Carrot juice is like a tonic. It will improve the overall health of everyone, and increase immunity. In fact, two glasses of carrot juice a day can increase your immunity by as much as 70%!
- Carrots can enhance the quality of breast milk.
- Carrot can improve the appearance of the skin, hair and nails.
- When taken daily it can lower cholesterol and blood pressure.
- Carrot juice when taken everyday, helps prevent bodily infections and is claimed to be valuable for the adrenal glands (the small endocrine glands situated above the kidneys).
- Carrots can regulate blood sugar.
- Carrot can promote colon health, because carrot is rich in fiber.
- Carrot can help prevent cancer. 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 reduced 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.
- Carrots can help with Macular degeneration. This is a common eye disease of elderly. It impairs the macula. Researches found that people who ate the most Beta-carotene had a forty percent lower risk of macular degeneration compared with those who consumed the least.
- Carrots can help prevent strokes. A carrot a day reduces stroke risk by 68 percent. Many studies have strengthened the "carrot effect" on brain. Studies conducted on stroke patients revealed that those with highest levels of Beta carotene have the best survival rate.
- Carrots help with Diabetes. Carrots are good for blood sugar regulation because of the presence of carotenoids in carrot. Carotenoids inversely affect insulin resistance and thus lower blood sugar.