7 Solid Reasons to Eat More Carrots

Carrots are one of the healthiest snacks you can have. With a sweet taste and satisfying crunch, carrots can soothe junk food cravings when you are trying to be good. They are also high in vitamins, antioxidants, and fiber, which can reduce your risk of developing cancer, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes.

Beta carotene

Carrots are a rich source of beta carotene, which is a powerful antioxidant with many health benefits. In the body, beta carotene is converted to vitamin A to maintain healthy skin. Studies show that beta carotene also protects the lungs against toxins that lead to lung cancer.

In fact, ex-smokers who consume beta carotene on a daily basis have been found to decrease their risk of both lung and stomach cancer. Other foods high in beta carotene include spinach, kale, and sweet potatoes.

Digestion

The body needs certain essential minerals, vitamins, fiber, and enzymes to power the process of digestion and carrots have them in spades. Carrots have equal amounts of both soluble and insoluble fiber, which helps to push food through the digestive system. The beta carotene converts to vitamin A, which boosts the health of your lymphocytes. Lymphocytes are cells that fight off food-borne pathogens.

And finally, carrots contain a good amount of calcium and potassium, two minerals vital to the normal contraction of all types of muscle, including the ones necessary to move food through your digestive tract. For these reasons, studies show that eating carrots regularly may prevent gastric ulcers.

Alkaline elements

Eating too much acid-forming food has a negative health effect, but eating carrots can help return the body to a beneficial pH level. While the body needs both acid and alkaline foods, it needs more of the latter while our modern diets tend to contain too much of the former. Aim for about 80% of your daily food intake to be alkalizing foods like carrots and other root vegetables.

Now, pH values naturally vary throughout your body – the stomach, for example, is very acidic because it needs to be. And the body is quite good and adjusting the pH value of your blood by excreting excess acid in your urine. The reason it is important to eat more alkalizing foods is simply that it puts less stress on your body in maintaining that proper balance.

Potassium

Potassium works in partnership with sodium to balance fluid levels, which contributes to the health of your kidneys and reduces high blood pressure. Unfortunately, we tend to get a lot more sodium than we need because it is packed into all kinds of processed foods at an incredible level. Carrots can help bring that balance back into alignment to relieve strain on your kidneys and entire circulatory system.

Dental Health

Carrots can help keep your teeth and gums healthy in a number of ways. First, just chomping down on crunchy carrots scrapes away plaque buildup. Eating carrots also stimulates saliva production, which helps to keep the bacteria in your mouth in check. Their alkalizing capacity can balance the pH in your mouth as well.

Wounds

There are two compounds in carrots that can speed the healing of wounds – vitamin C and beta carotene. Vitamin C is associated with a healthy immune system and the production of collagen, a critical component of skin. Beta carotene is known to reduce inflammation so that skin can heal faster. You may simply add more carrots to your diet when you have a wound or else pack some grated carrots into a compress and apply directly to the affected area once it has scabbed over.

Phytonutrients

Phytonutrients are naturally occurring plant chemicals and they have a whole host of benefits. One of the most powerful phytonutrients in carrots is called falcarinol, which is thought to reduce your risk of colon cancer as well as support overall colon health. In fact, the phytonutrients (including antioxidants) in carrots can reduce your risk of all types of cancer. The benefits seem to be greater when the carrots are cooked, but feel free to enjoy carrots however you like them.