Carrots

Wednesday, November 16th, 2016 | crankit

Motivation Rule #1: Carrots work better than sticks

Daucus carota sativa

History

Most probably native to the region of Afghanistan, where there still exists the greatest diversity, the carrot has not always been orange nor so very sweet. Purple was the colour of the first carrot, coloured by anthocyanidins. During the 9th and 10th centuries, the carrot spread throughout the Islamic world and reached Holland by the 14th century. The carrot’s horticultural changes are credited to the Dutch. Over decades of breeding, they changed the colour from purple to pale white and then to bright orange. Orange won out over purple because the orange colour doesn’t bleed in cooking.

The ancient Greek word for carrot, philon, comes from their word for love, and the carrot root was considered a potent aphrodisiac. The Roman Emperor Caligula once fed the entire Roman Senate a feast of carrots in hopes of watching them run sexually amok! Fashionable ladies in the English court once thought carrot foliage and flower so attractive that they used them to adorn their hair and hats.

Source of

Vitamin A, carotenoids, folic acid, silicon, potassium, magnesium.

Good for

Helps fights cancer and heart disease, fights infections, helps in eye disease and general eyesight. Boosts the immune system. Is also alti-helminitic, carminative, diuretic, stimulant. Carrots and their juice are one of the best detoxifiers – good for the liver, digestive tract and kidney function. The silicon strengthens the connective tissues and aids calcium metabolism. Also good for the skin and all mucous membranes.

Organic vs Non-organic

Commercially grown carrots are heavily sprayed with multiple applications of insecticides, herbicides and fungicides. Commercial seeds are also usually pre-treated. Non-organic carrots accumulate nitrates (which can, in the body, turn into carcinogenic nitrosamines) from artificial fertilisers, so they should be peeled, topped and tailed before consumption.

The high concentration of nutrients in the skin of organic carrots provides better food value and value for money, since there is no need to peel them before eating and there is evidence of greater nutrient concentration in organically grown carrots per weight.