One of the most common vegetable known for its exceptional health benefits is the carrot. Rich in vitamins A, B, and C, carrots have long been an all-time favorite of the health conscious individuals, particularly because of its ability to improve eye and skin health.
According to studies, a single carrot is so nutritious that it is enough to provide you with all the vitamin A you need for a day. We all know that vitamin A is essential for good eyesight, but do you know that it is excellent for the skin as well? Experts have also proven that carrots possess properties that can help protect the skin from the damaging effects of ultraviolet rays coming from the sun. Therefore, by adding carrots to your diet, you can actually increase the health of both your eyes and skin significantly.
Since carrots are so rich in vitamin A, it is safe to say that they are essential in fighting eye conditions such as night blindness. Night blindness is referred to as the lack of ability to see well in the dark and is a very common condition among people who have vitamin A deficiency. So how does carrot help in fighting night blindness? Vitamin A in carrots actually comes in the form of beta-carotene. In the body, beta-carotene is converted to vitamin A that works in protecting the eye by improving the retina and prevents the cornea from getting dry. Eating carrots regularly is not the ultimate answer to eliminating night blindness, but it is still an excellent way to boost your eye health so that you have very little chance of ever acquiring degenerative eye diseases such as cataract and glaucoma.
Not only does eating carrots help in improving eye health but also in preventing skin damage. Beta-carotene present in the vegetable is a very powerful antioxidant and helps in defending the body from free radical damage caused by overexposure to the sun. The sun is the number one contributing factor to many skin conditions, and by consuming right amounts of beta-carotene, these effects can actually be prevented or even reversed. According to studies, if you were to take at least 10 milligrams of beta-carotene from carrots each day for one week, you would find a significant decrease of sun induced discoloration and damage in your skin. This means that by eating carrots regularly, you can slow down the aging process tremendously and keep sun spots, wrinkles, and even skin cancer at bay.
However, while the health benefits of carrots may seem undeniable, you should also understand that too much of it can cause some health problems as well. The daily requirement for carrots ranges between 8 and 10 milligrams or one 7-8 inch carrot per day. If you consume more than that amount, you may experience a condition called carotenemia. This condition is characterized by the skin turning yellowish due to over consumption of carrots. While carotenemia or hypercarotenemia is considered a benign condition, its effects can sometimes be permanent.
Over-consumption of carrots can also lead to other health conditions such as liver damage or even heart disease. This is caused by too much intake of vitamin A. Vitamin A is essential to the health but anything taken in huge quantities can be considered toxic no matter how nutritious they are. Experts suggest that carrot consumption should be limited to one 8-inch carrot per day. Furthermore, see to it that you monitor your daily intake of vitamin A especially if you are taking multivitamins on a regular basis.
While most people believe that eating carrots raw is the best way to get the most out of the vegetable, studies suggest that you can only get up to 5 percent of beta carotene this way. If you want to really get the most of eating carrots, you should either boil it or blend it as carrot juice. You may also want to keep your carrots refrigerated, as carrots tend to lose their sweetness when left exposed at room temperature.
If you are suffering from vitamin A deficiency, it would help if you start including more carrots to your diet. After a while, you will begin to see how such a small vegetable can do so much both for your eye and skin health.
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