Purple carrots bring some color—along with some added nutrients
July 15, 2011
Purple carrots bring some color—along with some added nutrients
Carrots as we know them—the bright orange redhead of the vegetable world—have come a long way from the 5,000 year-old, deep eggplant-colored plant native to Afghanistan. Sometime around the 16th century, some (perhaps over-zealous) Dutch farmers decided to give the veggie some nationalistic flair, and thus the orange carrot was born. The transformation also made the vegetable a little bit sweeter; they started exporting them like crazy and the rest is veggie history.
It is well known that the carrot is a major power vegetable—especially the darker, nutrient-packed ones. While carrots of all colors are excellent sources of vitamins A and B, phosphorus, calcium, iodine and phytochemicals, purple carrots one-up ol’ orange with their high concentration of the powerful cancer-fighting antioxidant anthocyanin. Anthocyanin is responsible for the purple color in many berries, including blueberries, and is loaded with antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-carcinogenic and anti-bacterial qualities.
If this vague phytochemical content isn’t enough to convince you, ponder this: research has shown that three raw carrots a day can lower blood pressure, and just one carrot a day cuts the risk of lung cancer among smokers in half. They are thought to aid digestion, and have been believed by many a culture to be an aphrodisiac.
Lucky bunnies.
Original article posted here April 26, 2011