Beta-Carotene

It has been known for centuries that carrots and other vegetables loaded in beta-carotene are good for your eyesight. The body regulates the conversion of beta-carotene to vitamin A based on the body's needs. Sources of beta-carotene are carrots, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, winter squashes, cantaloupe, pink grapefruit, apricots, broccoli, spinach and most dark green leafy vegetables. The more intense the color of a fruit or vegetable, the higher the beta-carotene content.

Beta-carotene helps your retinas adjust to darkness thus greatly improving your night vision. Like Grandma said, eat your carrots.

Beta-carotene rich fruits and vegetables decrease risk of lung cancer. Nutrition and Cancer, Vol.15, No 1, 1991.

More Data:

Cancer cells "get sleepy" in the company of carotene (the substances that your body converts to vitamin A), according to researchers at the Kyoto University of Medicine in Japan. Three hours after the scientists treated human tumor cells with alpha-carotene, the activity of the cells' growth-promoting gene had slowed by 24 percent and after 18 hours by 82 percent. Alpha-carotene and its more famous relative, beta-carotene, are abundant in red, yellow, and leafy green vegetables. Journal of the National Cancer Institute, November 1, 1989.

Beta-Carotene is linked to less eye disease. Regular consumption of fruits and vegetables rich in beta-carotene (for example carrots, broccoli, spinach and apricots) is associated with a lower risk of a leading cause of visual impairment known as macular degeneration. The vitamin may exert a protective role by helping to reduce the harmful effects of exposure to ultraviolet light. A University of Illinois study which examined the characteristics and eating habits of 3000 people over 45, found that people who ate fruits and vegetables rich in beta-carotene on a daily basis had only about half the prevalence of macular degeneration (a deterioration of the retina) as people whose intake of fruits and vegetables were extremely low. Prevention, March, 1990.

Good health to you,
Sakara
(Yum, pumpkin pie!)

Back to Medicinals  Main Library  Back to Estate