Whole Carrots are Good Cancer Fighters
Cut Up Vegetable Contains Fewer Disease-fighting Agents
Jun 17, 2009
The Cancer Cure Foundation touts carrots as part of a healthy diet that wards off cancer. “Carrots contain a lot of beta carotene,” says the Foundation, “which may help reduce a wide range of cancers including lung, mouth, throat, stomach, intestine, bladder, prostate, and breast.”
Carotene is responsible for the orange colour of carrots and is not natural to the vegetable. The World Carrot Museum (Yes, there is one, but it exists only in cyberspace) says that, “Carrots were originally purple or red, with a thin root. The species did not turn orange until the 1500’s when Dutch growers used a mutant yellow carrot seed from North Africa to develop a carrot in the colour of the House of Orange, the Dutch Royal Family.”
More Cancer-Fighting Agents in Carrots
The Cancer Cure Foundation points out that it’s not just beta carotene that helps tackle disease: “…a substance called falcarinol that is found in carrots has been found to reduce the risk of cancer, according to researchers at Danish Institute of Agricultural Sciences (DIAS). Kirsten Brandt, head of the research department, explained that isolated cancer cells grow more slowly when exposed to falcarinol. This substance is a polyacethylen, however, so it is important not to cook the carrots.” However, the loss of nutrients can be minimized if the carrots are cooked.
Boiled before Cut Carrots are Healthier
Working with researchers at the University of Newcastle in England, Dr. Brandt has discovered that cutting carrots up before cooking them reduces the amount of falcarinol they contain.
According to a University press release, “Dr. Kirsten Brandt and researcher Ahlam Rashed, found that ‘boiled-before-cut’ carrots contained 25 percent more of the anti-cancer compound falcarinol than those that were chopped up first.”
The sugars that naturally occur in carrots, and vitamin C, are also found in higher concentrations if they are boiled before they are chopped.
What happens is that heat from the cooking process softens cell walls and that leads to the leaching out of compounds. By cutting the carrots before cooking, their surface area is increased allowing more nutrients to escape.
Taste is Improved in Carrots Cooked Whole
The research team also carried out a blind taste test; almost 100 people compared the flavour of ‘boiled-before-cut’ versus ‘cut-before-boiled’ carrots. “The response was overwhelming,” said the study, “with more than 80 percent saying that carrots cooked whole tasted much better.”
Dr. Brandt added: “We all want to try to improve our health and diet by getting the right nutrients and eating our five-a-day. The great thing about this is it’s a simple way for people to increase their uptake of a compound we know is good for you, all you need is a bigger saucepan.”
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