Characteristics: carrots are straight-rooted vegetables, which are wild except for planting; There are red, purple, orange, turmeric and other varieties. The sugar content of carrots is higher than that of ordinary vegetables. The sugar contained in carrots belongs to sucrose, and most of it is directly absorbed by people. Rich in carotene, it is converted into vitamin A after being ingested by the human body. Carrots contain two vitamins, protein, fat and some minerals.

Usage: Carrots can be used as vegetables, dried vegetables or processed into powder to pickle pickles and sauerkraut. Vitamin A contained in carrots can maintain the health of eyes and skin, and is also effective for rickets in children. Carrots are also blindly traditional Chinese medicine, often used for nutrition and stomach strengthening; Carrots are known as "small ginseng" because of their good nutrition, which can treat night blindness, malnutrition, loss of appetite, dry eye and so on. Carrots contain "potassium succinate", which is an effective component for lowering blood pressure.

Carrot is a crispy and nutritious home-cooked dish. Li Shizhen praised it as home (the best of all vegetables). The latest research by American scientists confirms that eating two carrots every day can reduce blood cholesterol10% ~ 20%; Eating three carrots every day has a miraculous effect on preventing heart disease and tumors. A study in the Netherlands found that elderly people who have a healthy eating habit of taking beta-carotene have a lower risk of heart failure.

So, how to eat carrots is more reasonable? Everyone is not very clear. People's habit of eating carrots is to eat them raw, cut them into shreds and vermicelli, and then eat them cold, or cut them into pieces and fry them with other vegetables. As everyone knows, this is not in line with the principles of nutrition. Because the main nutrient in carrot is β-carotene, which exists in the cell wall of carrot, and the cell wall is made of cellulose, which can not be directly digested by human body. Only by chopping, cooking and chewing can β -carotene be released and absorbed by human body.

Experiments show that if cooked in pressure cooker, the preservation rate of β -carotene can be as high as 97% because of reducing the contact between carrots and air. The experiment also shows that the digestion and absorption rate of β -carotene in the body is closely related to the amount of cooking oil. The digestion and absorption rate of β -carotene in cooked food cooked with enough edible oil can reach 90%. Because β -carotene is a fat-soluble substance, it is only soluble in oil and insoluble in water.

Although carrots are rich in β-carotene, it has a great relationship with our diet and cooking methods to maintain their nutrition and be truly digested, absorbed and utilized by the human body. The scientific and reasonable way to eat carrots is to cook them before eating them. There are two best cooking methods to keep their nutrition. One is to cut carrots into blocks, add condiments and fry them with enough oil; The second is to cut carrots into blocks, add seasonings, and stew them with pork, beef and mutton in a pressure cooker 15 ~ 20 minutes. However, according to the research of Johns Hopkins Medical College in the United States, excessive carotene will affect the synthesis of lutein in ovaries, reduce secretion, and some even cause amenorrhea, anovulation or menstrual disorder. So female friends should pay attention to the amount of food.