What kid doesn’t like carrots? Just the color alone will give you some inclination as to the nutritional value of this little veggie. As you may already know, carrots are excellent for your eyes. They contain lutein and zeaxanthin, which are carotenoids that work together to protect your eyes from macular degeneration and cataracts. In addition, the carotenoids found in carrots, alpha- carotene and beta-carotene, convert in the body into vitamin A. These carotenoids have cancer protective properties and are great antioxidants and immune stimulators. Studies have shown that carotenoids perform best when working together, and should be obtained naturally through nutrition, not in a synthetic form. Cooking carrots makes the nutrients more bioavailable; But by all means, continue snacking on raw carrots.
RECIPE IDEA: Carrots are so delicious that lightly cooking them in a little water, organic butter and sea salt is all you need. I also love cooking them in Asian veggie dishes with ginger, miso, garlic, green onion, sesame oil, and a little sweetener such agave nectar or honey.
FOOD CULPRIT: HFCS PT. 2
Is High Fructose Corn Syrup making you fat?
Additional Information from Dr. Weil.com
"Now, new research from University of Texas Southwestern Medical Centers shows what many have long suspected: our bodies make fat from fructose more readily than from other kinds of sugar. In the research, published in the Journal of Nutrition, six healthy individuals went through three tests: one in which they drank 100 percent glucose, another with half glucose and half fructose, and a third with 25 percent glucose and 75 percent fructose. The tests were random and double-blind, and the subjects ate a regular lunch about four hours later.
The researchers found that lipogenesis, the process by which sugars are turned into body fat, increased significantly when as little as half the glucose was replaced with fructose. Fructose given at breakfast also changed the way the body handled the food eaten at lunch. After fructose consumption, the liver increased the storage of lunch fats that might have been used for other purposes."
Hmmm, well written but I still don't like carrots ;-)
ReplyDelete