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Vegetables are not only versatile — they can be eaten raw or cooked, whole or chopped — but they also have a lot of health benefits. But if you’re looking to incorporate more veggies into your diet, you might be overlooking one vegetable in particular.
Eating baby carrots three times a week could significantly boost key nutrients found in the orange root vegetable, according to a new unpublished study presented at Nutrition 2024, the American Academy of Nutrition’s annual meeting in Chicago on June 30.
According to the 2022 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Fruit and Vegetable Intake Report, only about 1 in 10 American adults eat the recommended 2 to 3 cups of vegetables per day in separate surveys conducted in 2015 and 2019. This statistic inspired lead study author Mary Harper Simmons and her colleagues to research simple solutions that could increase weekly vegetable intake.
“(Baby carrots) are convenient and go well with things like ranch dressing or hummus. I’ve seen them with peanut butter, but some people just like to eat them plain,” says Simmons, a nutrition graduate student at Samford University in Alabama. “I want people to know that they can improve their health with small, simple changes…. You don’t have to make drastic changes overnight.”
Simmons added that in this study, one serving of baby carrots, as they are chopped and commonly sold in grocery stores, was about eight to 12 carrots, which is the equivalent of 100 grams or half a cup.
In an unpublished study, 60 young people were assigned to eat carrots three times a week, not eat carrots and instead take a multivitamin supplement, take a combination of carrots and a multivitamin, or neither carrots nor the supplement (control group).
After four weeks, researchers found that people who ate carrots had a 10.8% increase in skin carotenoids, natural antioxidants that have been shown to have health benefits, including preventing inflammation and promoting heart health, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
Additionally, the researchers found that those who only took a multivitamin (which contains the same carotenoids found in carrots) saw no change in carotenoid concentrations, but those who took carrots plus the supplement saw the greatest benefit, increasing carotenoids in their skin by 21.6%.
“Some people might think, ‘I’m taking a multivitamin supplement, that must be enough,’ but that alone doesn’t increase carotenoid accumulation. It seems that the combination does,” said Suresh Mathews, PhD, professor and chair of the Department of Nutrition at Samford University and lead researcher of the new study.
“The ‘food first’ philosophy always works, but for people who are unable or limited by food alone, in this case the combination of food and supplements seems to have an even greater effect,” he added.
Benefits of eating carrots and other vegetables
“A high vegetable intake has a positive impact on all kinds of health: Increasing your intake of fruits and vegetables reduces the risk of all kinds of chronic diseases,” said Sander Kersten, PhD, director of the Department of Nutritional Sciences and Schleifer Family Professor. Cornell University researcher, who was not involved in the new study, said that eating vegetables can help prevent heart disease, some cancers, diabetes and obesity, according to the CDC.
But orange and red vegetables like carrots, pumpkin and sweet potatoes are unique in that they are high in beta-carotene, a carotenoid that the body converts into vitamin A, Kersten said. Dark green leafy vegetables like spinach and kale are also high in beta-carotene, she added.
According to the National Institutes of Health, vitamin A is important for keeping the heart, lungs, and other organs healthy and supporting a variety of bodily functions. Vitamin A deficiency is not common in the United States, but But you should still aim to eat fruits and vegetables to reap the benefits of these natural, low-calorie, high-fiber foods, Kersten says.
While a reminder to include vegetables in a healthy diet is good for everyone, Simmons said the message is especially important for young people.
According to a 2022 CDC report, about 7% of adults While most college students ages 18 to 30 eat the recommended amount of vegetables, the American College Health Association’s 2023 National College Health Assessment found that about one in four college students surveyed said they eat three or more servings of vegetables a day.
“We always tell kids to ‘eat rainbow foods,’ but I think that really applies at any age,” Simmons says. “Having different colors of food on your plate is good. Even if you don’t eat it every time, just having a variety of foods throughout the day and week is definitely super beneficial for getting all the key nutrients your body needs to function.”
