Contents
What it is
The carrot is the root of a biennial in the parsley family, a relative of celery and parsley itself. It originated around Afghanistan, where purple and yellow roots were once the norm; the orange carrot is generally traced to seventeenth-century Dutch growers. That orange is beta-carotene. Raw it is crisp, and cooking brings the sweetness forward markedly. Attached leaves keep drawing moisture out of the root, so they are best trimmed off before storing.
Scientific name Daucus carota
Crunching a raw carrot is pleasant, but nutritionally it is a loss. Absorption of beta-carotene from raw carrot runs around 3–5%, and rises several-fold when the carrot is cooked and eaten with fat.
Beta-carotene converts to vitamin A only as the body needs it. Unlike animal-source vitamin A, there is virtually no risk of toxic excess.
Key benefits
- Nutrition data
A safe supply of vitamin A
One medium carrot exceeds an adult's daily vitamin A requirement. Vitamin A is needed for vision in dim light, corneal maintenance, mucosal barriers and immune cell function.
- Nutrition data
It matters for the eye surface and night vision
"Carrots are good for your eyes" is overstated but not baseless. Vitamin A deficiency directly causes night blindness and corneal damage, and where deficiency is common, carrots are a genuine remedy.
- Nutrition data
Fibre moderates blood sugar and appetite
2.8 g per 100 g, including the soluble fibre pectin, which slows sugar absorption and feeds beneficial bacteria in the colon.
- Moderate evidence
Carotenoids lower oxidative stress
Beyond beta-carotene there is alpha-carotene and lutein. An analysis of 18 human trials found that eight weeks of a carotenoid complex raised blood antioxidant capacity (FRAP and ORAC) and lowered triglycerides. The antioxidant enzyme levels themselves did not change, and what these trials measured were blood markers, not disease.[1]
How to eat it well
- Cook them and add fat. Steamed or sautéed with olive oil, absorption is several times that of raw.
- Cook whole, then cut to reduce loss of water-soluble nutrients.
- Scrape the skin rather than peeling deeply. Nutrients concentrate just beneath it.
- Even raw preparations like grated salads benefit from an oil dressing.
- Juicing removes most of the fibre. Eating them whole is better.
How to read the grades
Each benefit carries a label showing how far research on people supports it. Grades differ between items even within the same ingredient.
- Nutrition data
- A fact verifiable from food composition databases or health authorities. This is a different kind of statement from a clinical effect.
- Strong evidence
- Consistently confirmed across randomised controlled trials or meta-analyses.
- Moderate evidence
- Human studies exist, but effect sizes are small or results are mixed.
- Early research
- Cell or animal work, or small preliminary studies.
- Not established
- Commonly claimed, but not confirmed in studies on people.
What to watch out for
- Eating several a day for a long time can turn palms and soles yellow — carotenemia. It is harmless and fades when intake drops.
- Smokers should avoid beta-carotene supplements; high-dose trials found increased lung cancer risk. This does not apply to carrots as food.
- With birch pollen allergy, raw carrot can trigger oral allergy syndrome. Cooking usually solves it.
- As juice, the sugars can raise blood glucose quickly.
Nutrition
Approximate values per 100 g edible portion.
- Calories
- 41 kcal2%
- Carbohydrates
- 9.6 g3%
- Fiber
- 2.8 g10%
- Sugars
- 4.7 g
- Protein
- 0.9 g2%
- Beta-carotene
- 8,285 µg
- Vitamin A
- 835 µg93%
- Potassium
- 320 mg7%
- Vitamin K
- 13 µg11%
Percentages are of the US FDA Daily Value for adults and children 4 and over. National reference intakes differ by sex and age.
Calculate this alongside other ingredients →
Key nutrients
Dishes with this ingredient
Sources
The databases and health authorities this article's nutrition figures and health statements draw on.
- 1Effects of Oral Carotenoids on Oxidative Stress: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Studies in the Recent 20 YearsMeta-analysisZhuang C, et al. Front Nutr 2022PMID 35571897
- 2USDA FoodData CentralFood composition database
- 3NIH Office of Dietary SupplementsHealth authority
- 4PubMedResearch literature
