Carrots are of the most consumed and readily available vegetables around. What's more, they're healthy and inexpensive. Loaded with vitamin A, carrots come in a wider variety than most realize. Along with orange, you can also find purple, yellow, white and red carrots in specialty produce departments. While your body does a decent job absorbing fat-soluble vitamin A (which is abundant is carrots), it needs a little extra (added) fat to absorb the vitamin K, which is also readily available in carrots. Pair carrots with a handful or nut or some homemade hummus to absorb all the great nutrient qualities.
One cup of carrots is a mere 50 calories. Sure, carrots have gotten a bad wrap as being a "starchy" vegetable, but you'd have to eat a hefty amount of carrots to throw off your blood sugar levels.
Here are a few ways carrots have been shown to benefit our bodies:
- Heart Guardian: The antioxidants in carrots have been shown to fight off cardiovascular disease. Our bodies are constantly exposed to cardiovascular stressors, and eating a diet rich in antioxidants is great way to protect our heart.
- Sight Saver: The antioxidants in carrots protect our heart, and the phytonutrients in carrots protect our eyes from night blindness. Night blindness can result from macular degeneration leading to cataracts. Beta-carotene helps helps protect our eyes from this.
- Fiber Friendly: Weighing in at about 7 grams of fiber per cup, carrots are an easy vegetable to enjoy while giving our digestion a boost as well.
