Why Include Carrots In Your Diet
Carrots are a very healthy vegetable and an important element to add to any balanced diet. Including carrots in your diet will provide multiple benefits to your body, thanks to its contribution of essential nutrients.
Among the carrot varieties, there are white, yellow and even purple types. However, orange carrots are the best known and most common.
Its pleasant and fresh flavor makes it easy to include it in a large number of recipes, whether stews, soups or desserts.
Nutritional properties of carrots
Considering its weight, carrots are 90% water, 7% carbohydrates, almost 1 gram of vegetable protein and almost 3 grams of fiber. In addition, it is rich in minerals such as:
- Potassium
- Sodium
- Phosphor
- Calcium
- Magnesium
- Iron
- Zinc
- Iodine
- Selenium
As for its vitamins, carrots have good amounts of vitamins C and A, along with B-complex vitamins (B3, B6, B1, B2, folic acid or vitamin B9). Finally, the caloric value of carrots is 35 calories per 100 grams.
With all its nutrients, carrots provide important health benefits. Below, we’ll show you some of the most notable ones.
Benefits of including carrots in the diet
Avoid eye problems
This is the most famous beneficial effect of carrots. Its high vitamin A content helps prevent eye problems that will, of course, negatively affect vision.
Among these problems, carrots prevent the appearance of cataracts, degeneration of the macula lutea and night blindness.
Of course, carrots cannot cure problems like nearsightedness or astigmatism, but their beneficial effects on the eyes can prevent a large number of problems.
Prevents cardiovascular disease
Including carrots in your diet can reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease by up to 32%. This is due to the antioxidant properties and vitamins present in this vegetable.
This helps the body to clean the arteries and prevents the accumulation of fatty plaques.
Improves bone health
Carrots are rich in calcium, magnesium and vitamin C. Thus, when we include this food in our diet, we favor a better assimilation of calcium and a good reconstruction and maintenance of bones and teeth.
This, in turn, will help prevent possible fractures and collagen loss as it will help to increase the strength of these parts of the body.
Promotes cholesterol control
Along with the beneficial effects of carrots on good cardiovascular health, this vegetable helps the body to reduce excess cholesterol in the blood.
This is due to its high content of soluble fiber, especially pectin, which prevents the accumulation of fat in artery walls. It also favors the elimination of this fat and the reduction of blood pressure.
Benefits against constipation
As we’ve talked about, including carrots in your diet will give you a considerable amount of fiber.
These nutrients are very beneficial against constipation, and their large amount of minerals also helps to prevent and reduce stomach discomfort. Therefore, carrots are highly recommended food for people with gastritis.
Prevents the appearance of cancer and tumors
Cooked carrots help improve the absorption of falcarinol in the digestive system. This compound protects our body from the attack of various types of fungi, which could lead to the appearance of some tumors.
Also, eating raw carrots helps prevent serious problems such as breast cancer.
Diuretic properties
The high water content in carrots and their wide variety of mineral salts help in the disintegration of kidney stones. This makes carrots a very common element in cleansing diets.
For all these reasons, including carrots in your diet will provide you with a great number of beneficial effects and will be an abundant source of vitamins and minerals.
Along with many other vegetables, this food is a common ingredient in any healthy dish and an essential element in a balanced diet.
