Boil Carrots Whole for More Nutrients
One of the more intriguing news stories to catch my eye recently was a report on research that boiling carrots whole locks in more nutrients - especially falcarinol, an anti-cancer compound.
The study was led by Dr Kirsten Brandt of Newcastle University in the UK, and was presented at NutrEvent in France.
Dr Brandt, and colleagues from the University of Denmark, discovered the anti-cancer benefits of carrots four years ago (you can find details in Carrots may help ward off cancer).
Since then they have been looking into how to boost the carrot's cancer-fighting powers. Their studies revealed that:
- Heating carrots kills the cells, meaning they retain more water. This increases the concentration of falcarinol.
- However, the heating also softens the cell walls, meaning that sugar, vitamin C and falcarinol "leak" out of the carrot.
Apparently, the solution is to boil your carrots whole (which increases the amount of falcarinol by 25%), rather than chopping them before cooking:
If the carrot is cut before being boiled, the surface area becomes much greater - and so the loss of nutrients is increased.
If your mouth isn't quite as big as your pan, don't worry, you can chop your carrots once cooked without any nutrient loss.
Another bonus is that carrots boiled whole apparently taste better - they're sweeter as more sugar is retained.
So will you be investing in a bigger pan? Or, like me, do you think that the 25% increase in falcarinol could be achieved more easily by simply eating 25% more carrots?
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I always find it interesting when research like this comes out. It seems that some foods are best raw, and others are best cooked. With all the research going on out there, it's nearly impossible to keep track of how to best ingest the most amount of nutrients.
I think the best solution, overall, is to eat more plants long-term. Of course, learning about a 25% increase in nutritional value is interesting, and once we've got good nutritional habits going for us, it may help to practice the little details that do matter when added up.
ReplyI use the mini baby carrots so now what??? :-) I steam them or not & then eat. I don't use the larger carrots. Too much trouble for me vs. the baby carrots. Any research on the baby carrots. I buy the organic in regular bag, not the pre-portioned bags.
I try to eat healthy most of the time so I don't get caught up too much in this type of stuff.
ReplyHey Jody---Are you eating the baby carrots that you buy at the regular supermarket? They aren't really "real" baby carrots; they're regular carrots that have been put through a machine that cuts them into littler carrots so they're easier to eat. If you steam them the way they are, I'm guessing they're more healthy than if you were to cut them up first.
I personally eat the baby carrots raw; I don't care much for cooked carrots because I don't really love the texture when they're cooked. I'll eat them cooked if they're mixed with other veggies, but other than that I like them raw.
ReplyOr, you could just eat more carrots and not worry about it.
ReplyWhen I was morbidly obese I didn't care if the carrots were cooked or raw, all I cared about was what was for dessert.
Now I buy the organic full size carrots and cut them myself. I know it's a pain, but they are lots cheaper per pound in my grocery store. I think as long as you eat healthy, things will generally take care of themselves.
ReplyI really don't think this is an issue most people need to be concerned with. Just eat the carrots instead of the potato chips and that would be a start.
ReplyI agree with Trainer Shauna, and also want to say that there are often different nutrients available from a food depending on if it's cooked or not, as you can see from carrots. If you cook, you lose the Vitamin C, maybe Bs, but maybe some other stuff (like this farcinol) becomes more bioavailable. I prefer almost all veggies raw, but am making a point to eat cooked occasionally, too.
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