NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2000

CARROT ROOT Therapeutic effects : it contributes to : improve night vision and reduce cancer risk and cardiovascular disease. The carrot's therapeutic potential greatly surpasses its capability to improve vision. It contains all kinds of complex substances which could contribute to the prevention of certain cancers, to the reduction of blood cholesterol and to the reduction of heart attacks risks. This root is an excellent source of beta carotene, a complex anti-oxydant substance able to fight against free radicals, those unstable molecules in our bodies which cause several problems such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer and macular degeneration (main cause of blindness in adults of a certain age). In a study done on 1556 male subjects of over forty years of age, university researchers have noticed that the risk of dying from cancer was 37% lower in the subjects which consumed a greater amount of beta carotene and vitamin C. Even when the vitamin C intake was insufficient, the beta carotene intake lead to remarkable results. Longitudinal studies have concluded that subjects with a low intake of beta carotene were more susceptible to develop certain types of cancers, particularly lungs and stomach cancers. Beta carotene plays a double role, by transforming itself into vitamin A in our body and by contributing to vision improvement. Vitamin A helps vision by forming a purple pigment needed by the eye for night vision. This pigment, erythrosin (or rhodopsin) is found in the photosensitive part of the retina. Persons with an insufficient level of vitamin A could suffer from an impaired night vision, have problems driving at night, or finding an empty seat in a poorly lit movie theatre. Today, researchers have acquired a new respect for this elegant root. Bibliography : Les aliments remèdes des médecins par Selene Yeager Carrot root is now avaible in extract #392