Black carrots extract – 7 health benefits

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Black carrots (or purple carrots like some like to call it) come from the middle east.

Whether they are from Turkey, Iran, or another country in that area is not clear.

However, what is clear is that they have fantastic health benefits.

They are full of nutrients that are excellent for your body.

Here we look at 7  of the most important health benefits of this carrot to your body.

We also provide some more general information.

For instance, we tell you the reason for it being black, why is the carrot so black, and where to find the purple carrot extract.

What is a black carrot used for?

In ancient days, extracts from black carrots were mainly as a natural food coloring.

And this is true to these days as the extract is a natural black or purple in color and as such people purchase it instead of the chemical synthetic coloring.

The vast majority of the world’s population do not know much about the black carrot type.

In fact, many currently believe that there is only one type of carrot.

That is the orange colored carrot as found in the bugs bunny cartoon.

But there are other types, such as the white, the yellow, and the black purple carrot, etc.

Unlike the “orange normal” type carrots, which got their color from the Carotene content, Black Carrots contain Anthocyanin compounds.

This compound consists mainly of Cyanidin glycosides.

When extracted, the compound comes in red shades similar to the well known Red 40 (red color number 40 that is used for dye).

What do you really need to know about black carrots?

What you really need to know is that the anthocyanins compound found in this carrot has a number of important health benefits. In fact, it is nowadays used for treating neurological dysfunctions.

For instance, this compound is used to treat Alzheimer’s disease but it can also be beneficial to treat cancer.

To be more precise, the anthocyanins is full of antioxidant properties.

And it is these properties that have been researched in 2011.

The research published in the “Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry” concluded:

“The anthocyanins found in the black carrot have real potential for treating different types of neurological dysfunctions such as Alzheimer’s disease.”

Another research was published in the renown “Molecular Nutrition and Food Research”. 

Evidence was provided that anthocyanins can also be useful in cancer treatment by counteracting toxins that damage healthy cells during chemotherapy.

I will provide much more scientifically backed health benefits of this fantastic vegetable in the below section below.

Before I do so, I have to tell you that a black carrot is very tasty and definitely unique. It is completely different from orange or white carrots.

The purple carrots have some added sweetness to them.

And when you chew them, you’ll also get a little subtle spicy aftertaste.

What I like you to remember is that these vegetables are black on the outside.

But you’ll find that many of them will be paler in color when you cut them. That is absolutely normal.

What are the health benefits of black carrots?

A black carrot is known to be very healthy, but very few really know why.

This is why I decided to put the below to provide you with the different benefits of this vegetable.

1- Black carrots eyes benefits

We have all heard that carrots are good for our eyes.

And funny enough, there is some truth in this myth.

Like blueberries fruits which are also black in color, black carrots are excellent for our eyes.

They both contain anthocyanin (1) properties and this is why they are so healthy for your vision.

Anthocyanin compound supports better eye visions in a number of ways.

First, the compound is really good at reducing the risks of retinopathy (2) associated with diabetic individuals.

Second, it does support and promote fluid circulation around your retina capillaries.

Promoting such circulation will, in turn, support regeneration of the fluids and thus clean your eyes from dirt.

Cleaning the dirt will remove the blur vision that you may experience at times.

Third, eating this vegetable will help fight macular degeneration.

Last, but not least, all of the above combined together will also help you improve your night vision.

There is something else you need to know about this vegetable and your eye’s health.

Black carrots contain lutein (3).

This substance has scientifically been proven to improve your eyes health.

Many describe it as being the ‘eye vitamin’.

Very often, people would eat the carrot to prevent macular degeneration, cataracts, and retinitis pigments.

2- Black carrots colon cancer protection health benefits

Black carrots are full of polyphenols (4) compounds.

These compounds are really good for our colon.

Usually, when you eat something, your stomach will take most of the good stuff out and almost nothing is left for your colon.

However, this is not the case with black carrots. The compound does find its way into your colon.

This is due to the fact that polyphenols are very strongly bonded to the carrot fiber.

As such, they are somehow protected from your digestion system.

To be clear on this, as polyphenol sticks to the fiber, they will not be lost in your stomach or in your small intestine.

What is good about this is that the fiber found in the carrot will be able to scour your bowels.

As this happens, the polyphenols will start working on protecting your colon.

The way it is done is very simple. The bacteria in your guts will start breaking down the polyphenols.

They will then separate the fiber from the polyphenol, hence separating the two substances.

And the end product that is released from this separation and final digestion process will prevent colon from cancer.

Of high importance, for this to be successful, you need to eat everything in the carrot.

So, if you are looking to make a nice black carrot juice, then you do not need to filter it.

You need to drink everything, including the fibrous pulp.

3- Anti-inflammation properties of black carrots

Black carrots are a natural anti-inflammation that you must use.

Look, inflammation is really bad for you and you must stay away from it.

Think of it a little.

Inflammation is responsible for a large number of chronic diseases including diabetes, neurological disorders, heart problems, and worse cancer (5).

So, do you want to be a victim of any of the above conditions? I am sure not.

In the vast majority of cases, inflammation is your body natural biological response to a health problem.

As soon as your body detects an inflammation, it starts the process of tissue repair.

Regrettably, there are times where your inflammation does not heal properly.

With time, this may turn into a much more dangerous disease.

This is where carrots come in.

Your dietary is key to creating an anti-inflammatory environment.

Eating the right food will enhance recovery and prevent such bad conditions.

And I am sure that you have guessed it if you ingest a black carrot, then you’ll automatically ingest anthocyanins (6).

What is highly important to retain from this is that this particular carrot anthocyanin has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.

So, you have every reason to eat this vegetable and eat it often. You can always drink it as a juice too.

Eating it will control some painful inflammatory symptoms. It will also reduce the potential for long-term side effects.

For best results, it is advisable to eat the carrots raw. Doing so will ensure that you consume all of the essential nutrients.

4- Weight loss properties

This is a little weird, but factual.

It is known that bananas are good for you and can lead to losing weight.

Well, the same characteristics apply to black carrots (7).

In Western diets, it is accustomed to eating a lot of high sugar and high saturated fat food.

Eating this type of carrot does support weight loss. But why?

Because this vegetable contains very little calories.

For every 100 grams of carrots, you just have 35 calories.

So eat or drink black carrots without worrying about your weight.

It is advisable to eat them as a snack such as mid-morning or mid-afternoon when you feel a little bit hungry.

Instead of eating chocolate etc., you’ll have a nice crunchy carrot that has a little bit of sweetness to it.

5- Benefits of black carrot in fighting diabetes

We already spoke about anthocyanins in the above sections.

It is probably the best property of this carrot.

Simply put, anthocyanins compound fight diabetes (8).

If you have diabetes, your blood vessels which are made of collagen are attacked and weaken.

This is where anthocyanins are really good. They are a natural antioxidant that helps with this condition.

The antioxidants as found in the carrot neutralize the different enzymes that destroy your collagen.

By neutralizing them, you avoid the destruction of your collagen tissues, hence reducing your high blood sugar levels.

In essence, anthocyanins will work endlessly to repair your collagen.

It will then strengthen your blood.

And finally, it will promote better blood flow around your body.

6- Lower blood cholesterol

Black carrots contain a lot of fibers.

These fibers are the vast majority soluble.

This means that when you ingest carrots, the fibers will absorb water found in your digestive tract.

In doing so, it will indirectly create a gel substance.

It is this substance that will promote the stabilization of your blood cholesterol.

But this is not all, the gel is also the cause of another benefit of black carrot, that is it allows stabilizing your blood glucose levels (9).

Hence, you end up with lower cholesterol and blood sugar levels.

Obviously, any type of natural fiber is important to your healthy diet.

Eating regularly fibers will speed up your digestion.

But it will also help your body assimilate the most important, body needed nutrients.

We all need to ingest about 38 grams of fibers for men and 25 grams for women.

If you eat 1 ounce (28 grams) of raw black carrots, it shall provide you with 0.8 gram of your daily intake.

So eating 1 kg of carrots a day should give you 1/3 of your daily requirements of natural fibers.

7- Other black carrot health benefits

There are many other health benefits of consuming black carrots.

This type of carrot is really for your heart health.

It also does support your liver function and as mentioned above stabilize your blood pressure.

They are extremely rich in vitamin A.

And when you speak about vitamin A, you speak about healthy skin. So you’ll definitely look younger if you eat these for a long period of time.

When I say a long period of time, you need to eat one carrot a day for at least 6 months.

So, it is not a quick fix, but it does work in real life.

What you also need to know is that black carrots improve the quality of male sperm.

At the same time, it does strengthen your immune system.

How to eat black carrots?

Now that you know all about black carrots, you may want to know how to consume it. There are many ways to do so:

• Eat them raw as a snack
• As a black carrot juice
• Fried black carrots
• In a nicely prepare cake
• In salad
• As a supplement as an extract
• As a concentrate

Below I give you a black carrot cake recipe and some supplements that you can use in your daily diet.

Black Carrot Concentrate Supplements

I know that it is sometimes a little difficult to find black carrots in your surrounding.

I also know that some of us may want to get alternatives solutions.

Below is a table, where you will find black carrot concentrate, extract, teethers, and a baby superfood puffs containing carrot.

Black carrot cake

Here is a brilliant recipe you should try. It is very simple to make this cake.

The recipe is the same as standard carrot cakes.

The only difference is instead of using an ‘orange carrot’, we use a black one.  That is all.

Below is a black carrot cake decorated with orange carrots to keep children happy 🙂

The ingredients for the black carrot cake:

• 140 grams grated black carrot (this is about 3 medium-sized carrots) – Note: you can do the same cake with white, orange, yellow carrot if you like too. Same recipe.
• 175 grams light muscovado sugar (the brown one)
• 3 large eggs – you’ll need to beat them lightly
• 175 ml sunflower oil
• ½ tsp of grated nutmeg (if you have some freshly grated, then you’ll get maximum flavor)
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 175 grams self-raising flour
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• grated zest of 1 large orange (you can skip this one if you want)
• 100 grams raisins

The ingredients for the icing (if you want icing)

• 175 grams of icing sugar
• 1½-2 tbsp of orange juice

Cake preparation

Here are the exact 11 steps you need to follow to bake a fantastic and tasty black carrot cake.

Step 1 – Pre-heat your oven to 180 deg C / Gaz 4 / fan 160 C. Do this and start the process of baking your cake.

Step 2 – Get a round or square cake tin. I prefer round ones, but your choice. A friend of mine uses a heart shaped cake tin.

Step 3 – Oil and line the base and sides with baking parchment. This

Step 4 – Pour the sugar, the oil, and the eggs in a large mixing bowl ( a glass bowl is preferred) and gently mix the lot. Use a wooden spoon if you can.

Step 5 – Add the grated black carrots, orange rind, and the raisins. Mix.

Step 6 – Get another bowl and pour the self-raising flour, the bicarbonate of soda, the ground cinnamon, and the grated nutmeg spice. Mix the lot lightly.

Step 7 – Now tip the mix in step 6 into the bowl that contains the carrots etc. Mix gently until you get a nice soft and runny mixture.

Step 8 – Pour the mixture into the tin you prepared in step 1.

Step 9 – Bake the mixture for 40 to 45 minutes. Check if the middle part of the cake is firm and springy, then remove from the oven. Let it cool off a bit and remove the paper (it is best to remove the paper before the cake is cold).

Now onto the icing

Step 10 – Prepare the icing by beating the Icing sugar and orange juice together. Make sure that the mixture is smooth. You need to end up with an icing mixture with a similar texture to single cream.

Step 11 – Apply the icing on top of the cake.

That’s it.

Now you can eat your cake with a cup of coffee, tea, or hot chocolate.

Here is a video of how to bake a carrot cake. Just change the orange type carrot with black ones. That is all.

How to make black carrot juice?

Black carrot juice is another way you can consume this vegetable and get rewarded for all of its bounties.

You can buy it if you want (click on the below picture to buy it), or make it yourselves. Below is a black carrot juice recipe for you too.

In India, they call this as Kanji juice and today we are going to prepare this Kanji black carrot juice.

Here is how to make it:

The ingredients:

• Get 1 kilo of black carrots
• Fill a large glass of water – you may want to use a glass (or jar) with screw top cover because you need to let it rests for some time in the sun, so covering it will prevent dust
• Get 2 tablespoons mustard seed powder (you can remove this ingredient if you do not like mustard)
• 1/2 tablespoons salt
• 1/2 tablespoon of red pepper if you like the juice to be a little bit spicy (like tomato juice)

Preparation:

1. Here you need to make a choice. You either peel the black carrots or not. If the carrots are 100% organic, then you do not need to peel them. Just wash and drain them. However, if they are not organic, then you may want to peel these because most of the chemicals are on the skin. Now that you have peeled (or not) the carrots, you can chop these into small pieces and slice them lengthwise.
2. Place the slices in the glass that you filled with clean water (not the tap water as it is full of chemicals). Now, add the salt, the red pepper, and finally mustard seeds.
3. Close the jar.
4. Find a location where there is the sunshine and place the closed jar there. Leave it for about three or four days.
5. Make sure you stir the liquid two to three times a day with a wooden spatula.
6. You can taste it to see if the juice is slightly sour.
7. When it gets sour, then the carrot juice is ready.
8. If it is winter and you do not have access to the sunshine, then you can leave your jar indoor.
9. You need to put it where it is warm as the liquid needs to ferment.
10. When the drink has fermented, say after three days, you can drink it.
11. There is no need to place the juice in the fridge. Doing so will reduce some of the desired bitter taste. You choose.

Black carrot juice concentrate health benefits

You can make your own juice or buy black carrot juice concentrate from your local store.

What you really need to know is that the juice concentrate is really healthy for you.

For instance, black carrot juice concentrate contains 12 times more antioxidants than its counterpart orange colored carrot juice.

In addition to this, you’ll find that black carrots juice concentrate contains 40% more beta-carotene than the orange carrots.

I do not really need to repeat myself, but I like to say that black carrot juice has strong detoxifying properties. So drink it to detoxify your body.

All in all, this juice is like a diamond, being highly precious for your health and need your continuous attention.

Note that you can always buy black carrot juice extract too. The extract is really good, though not as good as the concentrate or the juice you make at home.

Conclusion

It is clear that black carrots must become one of your essential diet intakes.

This vegetable can prevent diseases such as cancer, diabetes, cholesterol, high blood pressure, enhance your vision and improve your immune system.

If you do not like eating black carrots, you can always use supplements.

I have also given you how to use black carrot juice extract, concentrate, how to bake a cake and many more tips.

Enjoy this wonderful vegetable.

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