A Carrot A Day

Carrots have been revealed to be a weapon in the fight against cancer. Scientists say that tests showed how a natural pesticide found in the root vegetable, called Falcarinol, lowered the chances of developing cancer by a third. Dr Kirsten Brandt, who is senior lecturer with Newcastle University’s School of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, carried out the research with the University of Southern Denmark and also the Danish Institute of Agricultural Sciences. She said: “We now need to take it a step further by finding out how much Falcarinol is needed to prevent the development of cancer altogether and if certain types of carrots are better than others; as there are many varieties in existence, different shapes, colors and sizes.”

The experiment was conducted using raw carrots so researchers do not yet know if eating boiled carrots or drinking carrot juice, for example, would have the same benefits. Dr Brandt, who says she eats ‘more carrots than most’ and grows her own organic vegetables, recommended that consumers should try and eat at least one small carrot every day, along with other vegetables and fruit, to benefit from a variety of health-giving properties.

Falcarinol is toxic in large amounts but to obtain a lethal dose you would have to eat 400 kilograms of carrots all at once! Researchers believe that this natural pesticide is effective as it stimulates mechanisms in the body that fight cancer cells. The University of Newcastle has advised us that the carrots used in the trial were organic.

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