What's Up Doc?

It is well known that carrots are a healthy food. We enjoy them in a variety of ways. They are often cut up and boiled or steamed, and are usually used in soups and stews. They also make a terrific snack for dipping. Their sweet taste and crunchy texture are a favourite among children and adults alike.

Although characteristically bright orange in colour, the carrot has a darker history then we may know. Dating back about 5000 years, the carrot’s wild ancestor was a tough fleshed, pungent root plant. They were once small, very thin, purple, red and even black taproots with an unpleasant bitte
ess to them. It is believed that the ancients used the root for medicinal purposes rather than eating them and some even discarded the root in favour of using the leaves and flowers for cooking.

It wasn’t until the 1500’s when Dutch agriculturalists used a mutant yellow carrot seed from North Africa to develop a carrot in the colour of the House of Orange, the Dutch Royal Family. They began experiments on improving the pale yellow varieties by cross breeding them with red varieties. These varieties contain beta-carotene, which produce the orange coloured roots. This is the wonderful sweet carrot we have come to know today.

Baby carrots appeared in the marketplace in the late 1980’s. There are two types of baby carrots. The “true” baby carrot, which are grown to the “baby stage”, and the “manufactured” baby carrots, which are the ones we see the most of at the grocery store. “Manufactured” baby carrots were invented by a Califo
ia farmer by the name of Mike Yurosek as a way of making use of carrots that were too knobbly or twisted for sale as full-sized carrots. Unhappy at having to discard tonnes of carrots daily due to their imperfections, Yurosek looked for a way to reclaim what would otherwise be a waste product. By using an industrial green been cutter and an industrial potato peeler, he created the baby carrot.

Carrots are an excellent source of antioxidant compounds, which help protect against cancer and cardiovascular disease. They contain important nutrients such as alpha- and beta-carotene, vitamins B and C, plus calcium, iron and potassium.

Beta-carotene is one of about 600 similar compounds called carotenoids, which are present in many fruits and vegetables. Of all the carotenoids, beta-carotene is known for its efficient conversion to vitamin A. Plant sources that are rich in beta-carotene include potatoes, spinach, mango, cantaloupe, kale, and tomatoes, but the highest source of beta-carotene may be found in raw carrots, steamed carrots, and carrot juice.

The body changes beta-carotene found in these foods into vitamin A, which is important in strengthening the immune system and promoting healthy cell growth. Vitamin A also plays an important role in vision by helping to maintain the mucosal linings of the eyes, and is required for the transduction of light into nerve signals in the retina.

Carrot juice has also become very popular as a health drink either on its own or blended with fruits and other vegetables. Fresh fruit and vegetable juices are rich in enzymes that spark the hundreds of thousands of chemical reactions that occur throughout the body. Enzymes are essential for the digestion and absorption of food, for conversion of foodstuffs into body tissue, and for the production of energy at the cellular level.

AIM Just Carrots® is made from 100 percent natural carrot juice crystals with only the fiber removed. The powder is concentrated 25 times, which means that 25 pounds of raw carrots are used to make one pound of AIM Just Carrots® powder. The caplets are formed from the powder.

With its natural form of beta-carotene, AIM Just Carrots® is 100% natural with no added sugar that provides the nutrition we need to develop a strong foundation for good health.

To learn more about the benefits of juicing (without the inconvenience) using AIM Just Carrots® please visit My AIM Store website at http://awealthofhealth.myaimstore.com and click on the products link.

By providing our bodies with the nutrition it needs, through proper diet and supplementation, and supporting a healthy lifestyle, we can avoid having to say…What’s Up Doc?