Watermelon is an excellent source of vitamin C and a very good source of vitamin A, notably through its concentration of beta-carotene. Pink watermelon is also a source of the potent carotenoid antioxidant, lycopene. These powerful antioxidants travel through the body neutralizing free radicals. Free radicals are substances in the body that can cause a great deal of damage.

They are able to oxidize cholesterol, making it stick to blood vessel walls, where it can lead to heart attack or stroke. Fortunately, vitamin C and beta-carotene are very good at getting rid of these harmful molecules and can therefore prevent the damage they would otherwise cause. (more…)

Although best known for their high content of beta carotene, carrots also contain a phytonutrient called falcarinol that may be responsible for the recognized epidemiological association between frequently eating carrots and a reduced risk of cancers.

Falcarinol provides protection against colon cancer, suggests a study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. Three groups of laboratory animals in whom precancerous colon lesions (aberrant crypt foci) had been chemically-induced were fed a standard diet, one supplemented with freeze-dried carrots naturally containing falcarinol, or one supplemented with an extract of falcarinol. After 18 weeks, precancerous lesions in the animals given diets containing carrots or falcarinol were much smaller than those in the control animals, and far fewer of the lesions had grown in size or progressed to become tumors.

Carrot is Daucus carota sativus of the parsley family. Carrot is a vegetable grown for its edible root. While we usually associate carrots with the color orange, in fact, carrots grow in a host of other colors including white, yellow, red, or purple, the latter being the color of the original variety. The carrot is a plant with a thick, fleshy, deeply colored root, which grows underground, and feathery green leaves that emerge above ground. Carrots belong to the Umbelliferae family, named after the umbrella like flower clusters that plants in this family produce. Carrot roots have a crunchy texture and a sweet and minty aromatic taste, while the greens are fresh tasting and slightly bitter.

The carrot is recorded as being used in medicine by the early Greeks and has been cherished ever since. The carrot can trace its ancestry back thousands of years, originally having been cultivated in central Asian and Middle Eastern countries. Carrot is an edible root vegetable which is originated from Asia. Even Dutch have listed carrot as one of their national dishes.This coloration was a reflection of the anthocyanin phytonutrient pigments these carrots had. (more…)