April 4th is International World Carrot Day! A day to celebrate carrots, learn about their health benefits and the many ways they can be incorporated into the diet.
Why CArrots?
Carrots are very versatile and easy to incorporate into our diets. Contributing to your vegetable intake, carrots bring a nutritious boost to meals or snacks. Carrots contribute significantly to the daily recommended intake of key micronutrients within our diet.
- Vitamin A: required for immune system and vision
- Vitamin B1: helps release energy from food and supports a healthy nervous system and heart function
- Fibre: maintains healthy digestive system
- Vitamin K: essential for blood clotting and wound healing
- Vitamin C: maintains bones and skin, prevents cell damage and support immune system function
- Potassium: helps regulate water content in body and normal blood pressure
Did you know?
Carrots are an excellent source of Vitamin A. Eating an raw carrot you can provide you with enough vitamin A to meet you daily target.
The world produces an estimated 40 million tons of carrots every year.
There are a huge variety of carrots grown over the world. Although orange carrots are the most popular variety, carrots can also be purple, yellow and white.
The longest carrot ever grown in history so far measured around 6 meters long.
Cooking carrots makes them more bioavailable to the body as it increases the levels of beta-carotene, an antioxidant that the body converts into vitamin A.
Adding carrots to your diet
Carrots are versatile vegetables and you can consumed raw or cooked and added to many dishes.
You can increase the nutrient density of pasta sauces by adding carrots. Roast or boil carrots to soften them and use a blender to incorporate into the sauce.
Eat carrots raw with a dip as a snack. An example for this is carrot sticks with hummus are a common snack pairing to help combat hunger between meals.
You can add carrots to sweet dishes as well, most famously this vegetable is a key component of carrot cake!
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Author: Lucy Clarkson, SENr Nutritionist
Editor: Jessica Eardley-Thompson, ANutr Nutritionist