Mothers often tell their babies: "Eat morecarrots"SupplementcarrotsVegetables."Although knowing the name "carotene", but many people do not know it.What are the benefits and effects of carrots?Can daily normal diet intake enough carotene?Are carotene health products effective?The Mum's Network Encyclopedia will answer these questions for friends.

The benefits and effects of carotene

Carrots are rich in nutrients, in addition to being rich in vitamins, they also contain a very important nutrient for human health, which is "carotene".Everyone is familiar with the name "carotene", so what benefits does it bring to our body?

Carrots contain a lot of beta-carotene, after entering the human digestive organs, it can be converted into Vitamin A, which is the safest product to supplement Vitamin A (solely supplementing chemically synthesized Vitamin A, excessive use will make people poisoned).The specific benefits and effects are as follows.

1, Protect eyes: The retinal cells on the retina contain retinal and have dark vision function.Appropriate beta-carotene can promote retinal to reach normal content, thereby avoiding the slowness of adaptation of dark vision caused by lack of Vitamin A, and also avoid the damage caused by strong light after dark vision.

2, Antioxidant: Antioxidant is to resist free radicals for the damage ofproteinmatter, lipid and nucleic acid etc.Carotene has significant antioxidant function, its molecular decomposition contains multiple double bonds, can effectively inhibit the activity of free radicals, thereby reducing the damage to cellular genetic material and cell membrane.

3, Delay aging: The process of human aging is closely related to antioxidant and immune regulation ability, Carotene has both antioxidant and immune regulation functions, which have a good effect on delaying aging.In terms of antioxidant, Carotene not only can directly act as an antioxidant to remove free radicals, but also increase the content of superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase, thus strengthening the body's own antioxidant ability and delaying the aging of cells and the body.

4, Avoid sunburn.Vitamin A and antioxidants can protect the skin from sunlight, eating more carrots can also prevent acne, skin dryness, spots, pimples, uneven skin tone and premature wrinkles.

Taboos of eating Carotene

Carotene does have many benefits, but if eaten improperly, it will also cause side effects.If carotene is taken in excess, it will cause adverse effects, especially for smokers, so it is best to obtain it from food.

1, Do not eat foods containing Carotene before liver function test.Before the liver function test, eating foods rich in Carotene willbloodbe yellow, affecting the accuracy of the yellow bilirubin index test;High-fat meals can increase blood lipids, so it is necessary to stop eating foods with fat content 10 hours before blood test.

2, Smokers should not use beta-carotene.The French National Cancer Institute recommends that smokers or former smokers should not supplement beta-carotene.However, foods rich in beta-carotene may offset the interaction between beta-carotene and smoking.Research data shows that in people who do not smoke, if the diet contains a certain amount of beta-carotene, it will reduce their cancer risk by 28%, and the intake of beta-carotene additive can reduce the risk by 56%.But in people who have smoked or are smoking, if the diet contains a certain amount of beta-carotene, it will increase their cancer risk by 43%, while the intake of beta-carotene additive can increase their cancer risk by more than twice. 

3, Excessive intake can cause loss of appetite.Although Carotene is nutritious, it is also necessary to eat in moderation.Excessive intake of Carotene may cause Carotene blood, making the face and hands skin turn orange, causing loss of appetite, unstable mood, restlessness, even sleepless, and accompanied by nightmares, crying, and talking in dreams.

What happens if you lack Carotene?

Carotene is an indispensable nutrient in daily diet, studies have shown that Carotene in the human body can be decomposed into Vitamin A.

If the human body lacks Vitamin A, it will cause skin roughness, hair without luster, eyes cannot see objects clearly when the light is dark (severe can lead to night blindness).In fact, this is just a small part of Vitamin A's effect, the growth and development of the human body, including bone and teeth growth, the integrity of the whole body skin and the body's resistance, all depend on Vitamin A.Because Vitamin A cannot be synthesized in the human body, it must be supplemented with animal foods.Therefore, people who eat mainly plant-based foods often have difficulty in obtaining enough Vitamin A, and using Carotene as a source of Vitamin A is a good choice.Common symptoms of Carotene deficiency are as follows:

1, Growth and development is hindered;

2, Taste, smell and appetite are reduced;

3, Dark adaptation ability is reduced, night blindness and dry eyes;

4, Hair, skin, memory, mood, insomnia and nightmares;

5, Changes in mucous membrane and epithelium.

People who need to supplement Carotene

1, Long-term poor absorption of fat, such as those with digestive system diseases, those with partial stomach removal, often lead to lack of Vitamin A.This often happens in children under 5 years old, mainly due to the lack of Vitamin A intake.

2, Vitamin A is also an important nutrient for people who wear contact lenses or spend a lot of time staring at the computer screen.

3, Pregnant and lactating women also need Vitamin A.

What foods are rich in Carotene?

Many people think that Carotene is only rich in carrots, in fact, other types of vegetables also contain Carotene, such aswhite radish.So, eating white radish in winter is good for the body.Studies have shown that white radish contains protein, fat and rich calcium, in addition to vitamin and mineral content is also very rich, eating raw can promote gastric juice secretion, thus effectively adjusting the function of the digestive system.Green radishcontains less Carotene than carrots and white radish, but contains starch, protein and potassium mineral content, which is unmatched by other radish.

Traditional Chinese medicine says that eating green radish often has the effects of strengthening the spleen, dispelling phlegm, promoting urination, relieving indigestion and dry mouth.In addition to the above, there are some dark green or red-yellow vegetables and fruits, such as:broccoli

,spinach,bamboo shoots,sweet potatoes,mango,honeydew,apricotsand melon, in general, the more colorful the fruit or vegetables, the richer the beta-carotene content.

The top 10 foods with Carotene content (100g) are: Spirulina (38810 micrograms);chilipowder (18740 micrograms);pumpkin (17000 micrograms);sweet potato (16000 micrograms);carrot (14000 micrograms);pumpkin (12000 micrograms);spinach (10000 micrograms);broccoli (9000 micrograms);tomato (8000 micrograms);sweet potato (7000 micrograms).The top 10 foods with beta-carotene content (100g) are:carrot (14000 micrograms);pumpkin (12000 micrograms);pumpkin (17000 micrograms);sweet potato (16000 micrograms);

spinach (10000 micrograms);

carrot (14000 micrograms);pumpkin (12000 micrograms);

pumpkin (17000 micrograms);sweet potato (16000 micrograms);spinach (10000 micrograms);carrot (14000 micrograms);pumpkin (12000 micrograms);pumpkin (17000 micrograms);

sweet potato (16000 micrograms);spinach (10000 micrograms);carrot (14000 micrograms);pumpkin (12000 micrograms);

pumpkin (17000 micrograms);