Carrot, cilantro, cabbage, cauliflower , coriander, veggies starting with C are many. My new book will be covering most of them. But today I will discuss Carrots. Those lovely orange veggies which rabbits love and I do too! If I was to choose between sweet or savory the gajar ka halwa wins any day. But carrot sticks and dips are a delicious healthy snack which even children love.

Carrot Nutrition secrets

Carrots are a good source of carbohydrates and dietary fibres and minerals like Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Sodium, potassium, Copper, Zinc, Thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin C. It also contains  Carotenoids,(5.33 mg/100 g)  beta carotene and lutein and phenolic acids.

Carrot calories:126 kJ/100 g

Carrot benefits you must know?

The many micronutrients and bioactive compounds make carrots a functional food with several health-promoting properties.

Carotenoids enhance your immunity They decreased the risk of degenerative diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, age-related macular degeneration, and cataract formation. Carotenoids show promise as a potential inhibitor of Alzheimer’s disease (Zaman et al. 1992).

Phenolics or polyphenols have antioxidant, antimutagenic and antitumor activities. Polyacetylenes one of the bioactive components could be useful in the development of new therapies for  Leukemia

Phenolics in carrots are present throughout the roots but are highly concentrated in the periderm tissue (Mercier et al. 1994). The carrot peel accounts for only 11% of the amount of the fresh carrot weight, it could provide 54.1% of the number of total phenolics.

Both carrot powder and grits are a good source of crude protein, crude fiber, iron, calcium, β-carotene and dietary fiber (Singh and Kulshrestha 2008).  β-carotene content of dehydrated carrots shows that the shreds lost most β-carotene. This is followed by powder and chops during three months of storage (Suman and Kumari 2002).

Drinking carrot juice lowers systolic pressure but did not diastolic pressure. Drinking carrot juice increased the plasma total antioxidant capacity. Carrot juice and its blends are among one of the most popular non-alcoholic beverages in Germany.

Processing of carrots into products like canned slices, juice, concentrate, pickle, preserve, cake, and halwa are ways to include carrot in your diet throughout the year. Carrot pomace containing about 50% of the carotenoids.

Best ways to include  carrot in your diet

Cook it with a little butter/oil for best absorption. Sweet or savory either way carrots are amazing

Vege sandwich with carrots, carrot cakes, pancakes, Carrot halwa Ghee and khoya are a must for the right taste. The one in Dilli haat Rajasthan stall is outstanding.

For a healthy snack try, carrot sticks with a dip.

Salad with carrots.

Add it to fried rice, pulao, khichdi, noodles, soups mixed veg, chicken stir fries, veg soups or chicken soups that taste amazing, Idli, poha, daal, fritters, anything, and everything can have carrots.

Other posts in this series

Asparagus: Also a medicinal plant

Beetroot: Benefits and worries

What’s in a Carrot?

References:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/20063690/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/22263789/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3550877/