Carrot Juice promotes good health and evokes happy childhood memories

After watching a few health-related documentaries like Fat, sick and nearly dead and Hungry for change recently; I decided to take up juicing. While searching for recipes I stumbled across a YouTube video extolling the health benefits of carrot juice. Eager to find out more, I did a little research and found an informative article in the Nutrition Journal.

Sure enough, carrots are high in fibre, carotenoids, Vitamin C, E and phenolic compounds (antioxidants). Antioxidants decrease the risk of cardiovascular disease, reduces cholesterol and inflammation. According to the British Nutrition Foundation, dietary fibre reduces the risk of heart disease, diabetes and some cancers and helps to regulate weight.

For my carrot juice recipe, I peel and chop the carrots and then boil them for 20 minutes before putting them in the blender, along with the water preserved from boiling and some grated nutmeg. Scientific research shows that boiling or steaming carrots helps to preserve the carotenoids and increases beta carotene levels. Nutmeg has a long list of health benefits that includes boosting the immune system, improving blood circulation and detoxifying the body.

Quite aside from the enormous health benefits, drinking carrot juice evokes happy childhood memories. I remember enjoying my late mother’s homemade carrot juice as a little girl and would even help by grating the carrots. My mother used to squeeze the carrots to make the juice and mix it with condensed milk and nutmeg, which is a Caribbean recipe and was really tasty.

Since I took up juicing six weeks ago (I also make a ‘green’ juice with spinach, celery, cucumber, apple, parsley, ginger, chia seeds and spirulina powder); I no longer crave junk food, I have lost 11 lbs and my blood pressure has decreased.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Please leave these two fields as-is:

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.