Vegetables for Health 8 - Carrots

Carrots are umbelliferous plants, the family of which exhibit flower heads shaped like an umbrella, hence the name. Known as Daucus carota in botany, carrots have unmistakable fern-like leaves, as do their cousins fennel, parsley and dill. The familiar underground tuber can grow to almost a metre long and 50 mm across.

The taste of carrots depends on how they are cooked. Some people insist that steamed carrots taste better than boiled carrots. This is a moot point, but perhaps the lower temperature of steaming does not take away delicate sweet flavours.

The orange colour of this root vegetable is due to the carotenoid carotene, hence the name of this vegetable. Carotene is an antioxidant, a natural compound that helps to prevent diseases such as cancer by neutralizing harmful 'free radicals'. These damaging chemicals are small 'ionized' molecules that accumulate in body tissues causing damaging oxidation, hence the name 'antioxidant'.

Carotene is actually two individual compounds - alpha carotene and beta carotene. Another carotenoid present is lutein. Alpha carotene is the more potent antioxidant, while beta carotene is essential for night vision. In addition, lutein helps to prevent macular degeneration in old age. This is why carrots are said to be 'good for your eyes'.

Alpha and beta-carotene is just two of more than 600 known carotenoids in nature. These are the pigments that give colour to foods such as the yolk of eggs, the redness of tomatoes, all fruits, and dark leafy vegetables such as cabbages, kale and spinach.

Other known antioxidants that are present in carrots are the hydroxycinnamic acids caffeic, coumaric and ferulic acids. There are also a couple of compounds called anthocyanins, namely cyanidin and malvidin.

The hydroxycinnamic acids are associated with the prevention of the development of chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease and cancer. The anthocyanins simply help to mop-up damaging free radicals.

A dutch study spanning a decade or so found that carrots help to protect against heart disease. The study found that the more carrots that are eaten, the greater is the protection.

Another study has found that polyacetylenes in carrots such as the compounds falcarinol and falcarindiol can help prevent cancer of the colon by inhibiting colon cancer cells. It appears that there is some kind of interaction between the carotenoids present in carrots and these polyacetylenes.

The full complement of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients in carrots are:-

• Vitamins A, the B complex, C, E, and K
• Dietary fiber
• Folate
• Calcium, copper, magnesium, manganese, molybdenum, phosphorus and potassium.