Carrot Juice

Carrot is one of my favorite juice ingredients.  It not only tastes good, it has so many health benefits and is highly cleansing.

Carrots may have high sugar content but it is also a very good blood sugar regulator (it's a paradox I know). If you're generally healthy without blood sugar problem, two or three medium-sized carrots daily would not cause any adverse effect (but diabetics should keep to just half a carrot a day).

The natural sugar in carrots are easily assimilated.  Fresh carrot juice has a glycemic index count of 80 which is at an acceptable borderline.  Its consumption is encouraged for its rich nourishment and carotenoid content which actually helps balance blood sugar. However, always practice moderation in whatever you juice.

Depending on its variety, carrots can be as short as two inches or as long as three feet, with a diameter of between half an inch to over two inches.

When we speak of carrots, we often think "orange", but they also come in a variety of other colors like white, yellow, purple and red.

Nutritional Benefits

Carrot is one of the most healing foods that provides the finest and highest quality in nutrients, especially from its juice.  It is an excellent source of pro-vitamin A, vitamins C, D, E, K, B1 and B6.

It is rich with biotin, potassium, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, organic sodium and some trace minerals.

Carrot greens/tops CAN be eaten. It is very rich with potassium (vitamin K) and protein. Potassium is a key mineral in our body, thus high consumption of it keeps all the organs in our body in tip-top condition.

The known phytonutrients in carrots are lutein, lycopene, anti-oxidants alpha, beta and gamma carotenes, zeaxanthin and xanthophyll.  You don't need to remember these fancy names, but just remember that phytonutrients are nature's marvelous provision for healing of various diseases.

Health Benefits

Carotenes, the famous ingredient in carrots, is an anti-oxidant that has powerful healing virtues for many diseases.  Drinking a glass of carrot juice daily will do much more for you than many bottles of supplement tablets.  Here are some disorders that can be helped by drinking carrot juice regularly:

Acidosis: The vital organic alkaline elements in carrots help balance the blood acidity and blood sugar.

Acne: Its powerful cleansing properties are effective in detoxifying the liver, thus overall effective for acne which are caused by toxicity of the blood.

Anemia: Carrot's molecules are closest to human's hemoglobin molecules, making it very beneficial in blood-building.

Atherosclerosis: The highly cleansing power of this miracle juice scrubs away even the old build-up of arterial deposits, reducing the risks of heart diseases and stroke.

Asthma: The anti-oxidants effectively protects the respiratory system from infections and free-radical attacks.

Cancer: Studies show that adding one carrot per day in our diet significantly reduces cancer risks.

Cholesterol: Pectin in carrots lowers the serum cholesterol levels.

Congestion: Carrot juice is very effective in dispelling mucus from the ear, nose and throat area, easing nasal congestion, sinusitis, phlegm and mucus in the throat and other similar disorders.

Constipation: Take five parts of carrot juice with one part of spinach juice regularly to regulate chronic constipation problems.

Emphysema: If you smoke or are exposed to second-hand smoke, taking carrot juice regularly may well save your life.

Eyes: Beta-carotene, lutein and zeaxanthin are some of the finest nourishment that help keep the optic system in tip-top condition, with special protection against astigmatism, macular degeneration and cataracts.

Fertility: One of the reasons for infertility is lack of nutrients and enzymes in your dietary.  Carrot juice taken regularly, is able to nourish your body back to fertility.

Inflammations: Its anti-inflammatory effect greatly helps reduce arthritis, rheumatism, gout and other inflammations.

Immune systems: It does wonders for boosting the immune system by increasing the production and performance of white blood cells;  building resistant to various kinds of infections.

Nursing mothers: Carrot juice helps enhance the quality and quantity of a mother's breast milk.

Pregnancy: Drinking carrot juice regularly during pregnancy, especially during the last few months, will reduce the chances of jaundice in baby.  No, you won't get an orange baby!

Skin problems: The high quality vitamin C and other rich nutrients in carrot juice efficiently nourish the skin, preventing dry skin, psoriasis and other skin blemishes.

Thread worms: One small cup of carrot juice in the morning taken daily for a week can help clear up thread worms in children.

Ulcers: The abundance of nutrient present in carrots help nourish cells that have been starved of nutrients which result in ulcers.

Water retention: Carrot juice is diuretic and helps to eliminate excess fluids from the body, reducing water retention, especially for women during their monthly menstruation cycle and in pregnant women.

Consumption Tips

Carrots that are no longer than 6 inches tend to be sweeter.  So choose the shorter variety if you like it sweet or the longer one if you prefer it less sweet.

The most nutrients are concentrated just under the skin so try not to peel off the skin.  To clean it, simply use a hard brush to brush the skin.

Carrot is a very versatile and mild root vegetable that can easily mix with most other ingredients. I usually use it as a base, with apples.

Check out some of my yummi-licious recipes using carrots here.

Caution

You may have heard of people "turning orange" from drinking carrot juice. Here's an explanation derived from a book written by Juicing Guru the late  Dr Norman Walker, "Fresh Vegetable and Fruit Juices". On page 27 it says:

Intestinal and liver diseases are sometimes due to a lack of certain of the elements contained in properly prepared raw carrot juice.  When this is the case, then a noticeable cleaning up of the liver may take place, and the material which was clogging it may be found to dissolve.  Frequently, this is released so abundantly that the intestinal and urinary channels are inadequate to care for this overflow, and in a perfectly natural manner it is passed into the lymph for elimination from the body by means of the pores of the skin.  This material has a distinctly orange or yellow pigment and while it is being so eliminated from the body will sometimes discolor the skin.  Whenever such a discoloration takes place after drinking carrot or other juices, it is an indication that the liver is getting a well-needed cleansing.

It is NOT the carrot juice itself nor the carotene that comes through the skin, as this discoloration will take place even if the juice is filtered to the point of clearing it of all color pigment.  It is just as practical an impossibility for the carrot pigment itself to come through the skin as it would be for the red pigment of the beet to turn the body red or the chlorophyll of the green vegetables to paint the skin green from within.