Carrots are a healthy food that helps improve eyesight, strengthen skin health, and reduce the risk of certain cancers. However, not everyone should eat carrots and know how to eat them properly so that this root vegetable does not harm the body.

carrots are good for health

Why are carrots good for your health?

Low in energy, rich in vitamins

Carrots  are a vegetable rich in sugar, vitamins and energy. Sugars are concentrated in the skin and lean meat of the root; the core is very little. Therefore, carrots with thick skin and small core are good.

Carrots contain a lot of vitamins C, D, E and B vitamins; in addition, they also contain a lot of carotene (higher than in tomatoes); after entering the body, this substance will gradually convert into vitamin A, the vitamin of growth and youth.

At just 25 calories, one carrot provides about 200% of the recommended daily intake of  vitamin A, nearly 2g of fiber, and is a good source of  vitamin K.

Including low-calorie carrots with other vegetables in your diet will make it easier to achieve and maintain a healthy weight.

Packed with antioxidants

Carrots’ cancer-fighting powers come from being a non-starchy vegetable that is a good source of carotenoids and phytochemicals. Carrots contain a number of phytochemicals that have been well studied for their cancer-fighting properties. That familiar orange color comes from large amounts of beta-carotene, a carotenoid that our bodies convert to vitamin A.

Well studied for their role in eye health, beta-carotene, like alpha-carotene, is important for immune function, maintaining healthy cells, and activating proteins that inhibit cancer cells.

Carrots are healthy, cheap and easy to find.

Cheap and easy to find

Carrots are one of the most familiar foods , cheap, easy to prepare, carrots are present in many familiar and famous dishes.

That makes carrot dishes suitable for the economy of every family when you want to add more foods of plant origin to your cancer prevention protection layer.

Reasons not to eat carrots regularly

Causes constipation

According to experts, carrots are effective when having diarrhea, especially for children when having diarrhea, eating carrot porridge, drinking carrot juice will be effective.

Because although carrots have a very abundant amount of fiber, it is in an insoluble form, if you eat too much without drinking enough water, it will clog the intestines and cause constipation

Carrot porridge is good for children with diarrhea.

Menstrual disorders

For women, if you regularly consume more than 0.5 liters of carrot juice or more than 300g of carrots per day, it will affect ovulation, causing menstrual disorders or even amenorrhea for a period of time.

Many studies have shown that women who eat a lot of carrots can have their ovulation inhibited and their ovarian function reduced due to the effects of too much carotenoid. Therefore, you should only eat 2-3 times a week to absorb nutrients and help maximize the value of carrots.

Causes jaundice

Eating a large amount of carrots for a long time not only causes carrot poisoning due to increased methemoglobinemia, but the high amount of carotene stored in the body that is not fully metabolized will also cause stagnation in the liver, causing jaundice (most obvious manifestations in the tip of the nose, palms of the hands, soles of the feet, etc.), indigestion, fatigue, etc.

Although this condition only affects aesthetics, is not dangerous and is easy to control (just stop or reduce eating carrots for a while to cure jaundice), it can also make the patient worried. Therefore, it is best for adults not to eat more than 300g and children not to eat more than 150g of carrots per week.

Carrots should not be consumed in excess as they can cause vitamin A toxicity.

Vitamin A toxicity is possible

Half a cup of carrots contains 459mcg of beta-carotene, which is about 1,500 IU of vitamin A. Vitamin A levels exceeding 10,000 IU can cause toxicity including loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, hair loss, fatigue and nosebleeds, inhibition of bone formation, leading to fractures. Long-term vitamin A toxicity can also affect kidney function.

Toxicity occurs because vitamin A is fat-soluble, so any excess vitamin A in the body is stored in the liver or fatty tissue. This can lead to a buildup of vitamin A over time and eventually toxicity.