Carrots are capable of reducing body mass index and removing excess fat – this vegetable has bypassed even spinach and broccoli. Carrots also help prevent diabetes and cancer.
Plain carrots can help you shed those extra pounds faster, especially the fat around your waist. This is the conclusion made by Japanese scientists, and the results of their research are published in the journal Nutrients.
Why carrot will help you lose weight
Scientists have investigated the relationship between vegetable consumption, a decrease in body mass index (BMI), and obesity. Doctors collected nutritional data from overweight volunteers, varying degrees of obesity, and average body weight.
They all ate carrots and broccoli, spinach, other green vegetables (green peppers and green beans), pumpkin, and cabbage. So, carrots turned out to be the most effective in terms of combating overweight and obesity.
Carotenoid antioxidants in a carrot
Doctors attribute this to the fact that carrots are rich in carotenoid antioxidants such as β-carotene, α-carotene, and β-cryptoxanthin.
Clinical studies have confirmed that people with normal and lower BMIs have higher levels of β-carotene in their blood. And it is these people who often include carrots in their diet.
What else is good in carrots for health?
Since carrots and other vegetables help you shed those extra pounds, they reduce the risks of obesity accordingly. And obesity is an important factor contributing to the spread of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer around the world, which leads to a decrease in the quality of life.
Accordingly, the closer your weight is to normal, the lower the risk of developing:
- obesity,
- cancer,
- diabetes,
- and cardiovascular diseases.
An interesting point – the researchers noted that carrots help to reduce the amount of body fat at the waist in women than in men.
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