Useful Properties Of Carrots. Composition, Contraindications. Photo

2023 Author: Ava Durham | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-11-27 07:13

The famous physician and chemist of the Renaissance, Theophrastus Paracelsus, reasonably called the roots of carrots mandrake, which gave people a long life without diseases. The wonderful properties of carrots lie in its composition, which includes not only many trace elements, but also contains a rich set of vitamins, some of which are not formed by the human body as a result of metabolic processes. Carrots concentrate in their root crops substances that help to cure many diseases, acquire stable immunity and rejuvenate the body as a whole. Read more about the beneficial properties of carrots, biochemical composition and the influence of growing conditions on the value of root crops, read this material.

Content:

• Few facts about carrots
• Influence of growing conditions for carrots on the quality of root crops
• Biochemical composition of carrots
• Other beneficial substances in carrots
• Useful properties of carrots
• Contraindications for eating carrots

Few facts about carrots

Cultural forms of carrots originated from the wild, which grows in abundance in Asia and Europe. Afghanistan is considered the homeland of the root crop.

The first mention of carrots dates back to the 10th century BC. The cultivation of carrots, thanks to the treatises of the first healers who wrote about its benefits for the body, began more than 3 thousand years ago. In Europe, including Russia, carrots began to be cultivated in the 14th century. Root crops of those years, and almost before the start of breeding work in Western Europe in the 19th century (in Russia in the 20th), were predominantly white, red and even purple, contained few vitamins, the pulp was coarse and fibrous.

Only in the 20th century, as a result of selection, varieties of the usual carotene carrots appeared, mainly of orange flowers, sweet, with a pleasant juicy pulp. If before breeding work in cooking they used mainly tops and seeds of carrots, and root crops much less often, then later there was a real culinary boom. Cookbooks devoted significant volumes to descriptions of all kinds of recipes for preparing dishes from carrots in combination with other food crops, and medical reference books - to recipes for preparing medicines for various diseases.

Influence of growing conditions for carrots on the quality of root crops

The value of carrots is determined by the content of vitamins and other nutrients that accumulate in the root vegetable. Their quantity and quality depend on the cultivation technology. If agrotechnical requirements are violated, not only external signs (small, low-orange, cracked root crops, etc.) change, but also their biochemical parameters. The content of vitamins, flavonoids, anthocyanides and other very important compounds for the body is sharply reduced.

Carrots are a culture of a temperate climate. Demanding on basic living conditions: soil and temperature conditions, moisture and light. With poorly prepared soil (low looseness and insufficient filling with basic fertilizers), insufficient watering and dressing during the growing season, a violation of the ratio of basic nutrients (a lot of nitrogen and little potassium) and other conditions, the quality of the root crop decreases.

When buying root crops in the market, be sure to take an interest in the growing conditions of the crop. But it is best to grow carrots on your site to maintain the health of family members, observing all the requirements of cultivation agrotechnics. In this case, sowing must be carried out only with zoned varieties and hybrids. In winter, in your garden diary, make a list of early, medium, late varieties with the highest biotechnical indicators of product quality and prepare carrot seeds for these particular varieties.

Biochemical composition of carrots

Vitamins in carrots

• Carrots contain 22% provitamin "A" (carotene), including alpha- and beta carotenes, which are synthesized in the body into vitamin "A", which is responsible for visual acuity.
• Vitamins of group "B" in 100 g of carrots contains more than 0.5 g, including B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B9 and B12, which are necessary for the body to synthesize hemoglobin.
• Carrot juice contains a group of active chemical substances calciferols, presented in the form of vitamin "D", including "D2", "D3". Vitamin "D" under the influence of natural solar and ultraviolet (artificial radiation) rays can be produced in the body, manifesting itself in the form of sunburn. Its deficiency in the body in children manifests itself in the form of rickets, and in adults - in the form of osteoporosis (fragility) and softening (osteomalacia) of bones.
• Carrots are distinguished by a high (11%) content of vitamin "K", which regulates the process of blood coagulation, preventing the formation of blood clots.
• Vitamins "C" and "E" provide the body's energy and normalize the functions of the endocrine glands. In addition, vitamin E slows down the aging process of the body. It is called the vitamin of youth. It is indispensable for diabetics, as it helps to reduce the need for insulin.
• Vitamin "PP" (niacin), like the previous vitamins, provides the body's energy, supports the heart, blood circulation, participates in the exchange of amino acids.
• Vitamin N, or lipoic acid, regulates the functioning of the liver, thyroid gland, participates in carbohydrate metabolism, and affects the level of cholesterol in the blood.

The entire vitamin complex is stored in freshly prepared carrot juice for an hour. When defrosting - within 0.5 hour. Its fullest use by the body occurs in the presence of fats (butter, sour cream).

Trace elements from carrots

Carrots are distinguished by a fairly high content of trace elements. In 100 g of raw materials, carrots contain 320 mg of potassium, which is responsible for the normalization of the heart. In Soviet times, runners were prescribed potassium orotate. The sodium concentration ranges from 69-70 mg, and the amount of phosphorus and calcium exceeds 65-68 mg. Copper, zinc, iron, magnesium, manganese, cobalt and molybdenum are present in sufficient quantities in the carrot root crop.

Carrots also contain selenium - an element of youth and fluorine, which is responsible for the thyroid gland and promotes the removal of heavy metals and radionuclides from the body.

Other elements are also present in the root crop, in compounds and combinations necessary for the normalization of water metabolism (chlorine), water-salt metabolism (sodium), protein composition (sulfur). The list of trace elements is supplemented by aluminum, boron, vanadium, nickel, chromium, lithium, iodine.

An impressive list against the background of the low calorie content of the product becomes indispensable in the treatment of obesity, weight loss, and stimulation of hematopoiesis.

Carrots are included in all fitness diets. 100 g of root vegetables (one small carrot) contains from 35 to 40 kcal, but more than 9.5 g of carbohydrates, 2.8 g of dietary fiber.

Other beneficial substances in carrots

Recently, a decrease in immunity has been observed everywhere in children and adults, attacks of colds are increasing. By their phytoncidal properties, carrots are practically equivalent to garlic and onions, but they do not have an unpleasant odor. On the contrary, essential oils add piquancy to the prepared dishes.

At the beginning of the recognition of carrots as a food product, seeds and green tops, as already mentioned, were used in cooking. In lower concentrations than in other vegetables, but in a more complete list, amino acids are present in carrots. Their list includes tyrosine, lysine, leucine, ornithine, cysteine, asparagine, threonine, histidine, methionine and others.

Anthocyanidins and bioflavonoids give carrots a pleasant rich color. It contains umbelliferone, which takes part in the biosynthesis of such irreplaceable compounds as phytosterols, coumarins, quercetins, fiber, pectins, sugar, etc.

Useful properties of carrots

For the treatment and prevention of diseases, carrots are used in the form of a raw product, boiled, frozen after thawing. Boiled, it enhances the positive effect on the body in the treatment of nephritis, cancer, diabetes, general dysbiosis. Raw carrots prevent microbial infection in the oral cavity and the whole body in case of infectious colds (acute respiratory infections, flu).

Carrots are used for vitamin deficiency, anemia, atherosclerosis. It is included in the composition in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, gastrointestinal tract, helminthic invasions, gallstones and urolithiasis, pyelonephritis, cystitis. Carrot juices are effective for conjunctivitis, night blindness, and other eye diseases. It is used in official and folk medicine for diseases of the bone and hematopoietic system.

50 g per day of fresh carrots (the average daily rate) will reduce the risk of stroke by 60-70%, malignant breast tumors by 25%, retinal diseases with visual impairment by 40%.

Contraindications for eating carrots

• Carrots are contraindicated in case of allergy to this product.
• With inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract, small intestine, gastric ulcer. In these cases, the vegetable is used boiled or stewed.
• If you have liver problems, consult your doctor before consuming carrots.
• With excessive consumption of raw carrots and juices, yellowing of the feet and skin of children and adults can be observed. It is necessary to reduce the daily dosage of the product until the yellowness disappears.

In conclusion, I would like to warn readers. Carrots are very useful, but everything needs a measure. It is enough to eat 1-2 carrots per day, not exceeding 100-120 g in any form - salads, mashed potatoes, juices.